THE UNDERGROUND

HIGHWAY Bart Savenije

Book Two of the Lost Books Of Talislanta

The Talislanta game and fantasy world are the creations of Stephan Michael Sechi. Talislanta is a trademark of SMS, and is used here with permission.
Writing: Bart Savenije. Editing, Layout, & Cartography: Paul Cunningham.
First Printing, October 2010. This book may be reprinted for personal use only. For more information about the world of Talislanta, visit talislanta.com.
 Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Travelling Underground _______________________________________ 2-5
Map: Subterranean Talislanta ___________________________________________________ 2-6
HISTORY _______________________________________________________________ 2-8
The Forgotten Age_______________________________________________________________ 2-8
The Archaen Age________________________________________________________________ 2-9
The Great Disaster______________________________________________________________ 2-10
The Phaedran Age ______________________________________________________________ 2-10
TRAVELLING UNDERGROUND____________________________________________ 2-10
The Underground Highway _______________________________________________________ 2-10
Learning the Rocks _____________________________________________________________ 2-11
Chapter 2: Excerpts from the Geological Repository in Durne ________________ 2-13
THE GNOMEKIN PROTECTORATE ____________________________________________ 2-14
The Seventh Road ______________________________________________________________ 2-14
Sidebar: Station Seven _______________________________________________________ 2-14
Sidebar: Tunnel Lights _______________________________________________________ 2-15
Map: A Bunk Hole on the Underground Highway __________________________________ 2-16
The Cymril Underground Connection _______________________________________________ 2-17
Map: A Grotto on the Underground Highway _____________________________________ 2-17
The Underground City of Durne ___________________________________________________ 2-18
Sidebar: Encounters in the Gnomekin Protectorate__________________________________ 2-18
The Durne Slideways ___________________________________________________________ 2-19
Map: The Durne Slideways____________________________________________________ 2-19
Ironroot ______________________________________________________________________ 2-19
Sindar Canyons ________________________________________________________________ 2-20
The Sapphire Mountains _________________________________________________________ 2-21
The Dead River ________________________________________________________________ 2-21
The Land Kra Burrows of Kasmir __________________________________________________ 2-22
The Jaspar Mountain Mines ______________________________________________________ 2-22
Brown Astar __________________________________________________________________ 2-23
Map: One of the Caverns of Brown Astar_________________________________________ 2-24
The Muses of Brown Astar _______________________________________________________ 2-25
The Subterranoids ______________________________________________________________ 2-25
THE WESTERN WATERWAYS ___________________________________________ 2-27
The Dead Lagoon ______________________________________________________________ 2-27
Forgotten Shrines_______________________________________________________________ 2-28
Map: Forgotten Shrine Beneath the Witchwood ____________________________________ 2-29
Fan Sea ______________________________________________________________________ 2-30
The Fan-Ra-San________________________________________________________________ 2-30
The Three Sisters_______________________________________________________________ 2-32
Sidebar: Encounters in the Western Waterways ____________________________________ 2-33
Map: Death Spiral of the Golden Sister __________________________________________ 2-34
The Onyx Mines _______________________________________________________________ 2-35
Spy's Fate_____________________________________________________________________ 2-36
Sidebar: Amerdeiro's Journal __________________________________________________ 2-36
The Cliffs of Khazad ____________________________________________________________ 2-37
The Dark Tongue_______________________________________________________________ 2-37

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THE EASTERN STRETCH _______________________________________________ 2-38
The Ancestral Home of the Vajra __________________________________________________ 2-38
Harakin Raiding Tunnels_________________________________________________________ 2-39
The Citadel of Karang ___________________________________________________________ 2-39
Lava Lake ____________________________________________________________________ 2-40
Sidebar: Encounters Beneath the Volcanic Hills____________________________________ 2-40
Map: The Island of Fate and the Fire-Pits of Malnangar _____________________________ 2-41
Sassan's Mansion_______________________________________________________________ 2-42
The Sauran Connection __________________________________________________________ 2-42
The Mazdak Cascade____________________________________________________________ 2-42
Guerrilla Rocks ________________________________________________________________ 2-43
The Colourful Caverns __________________________________________________________ 2-44
The Kalixa ____________________________________________________________________ 2-44
Cicz Spring and the Mandalan Stream ______________________________________________ 2-46
The Rajan Connection ___________________________________________________________ 2-47
Secrets Taken to the Grave _______________________________________________________ 2-48
ROOT CANALS _________________________________________________________ 2-48
Deodar Subways _______________________________________________________________ 2-48
Lost Treasures _________________________________________________________________ 2-49
The Sea Floor Tunnel ___________________________________________________________ 2-49
The Underground Highway - South Branch __________________________________________ 2-50
Sidebar: Encounters within the Root Canals _______________________________________ 2-50
Root Canals ___________________________________________________________________ 2-51
Map: Root Canals in the Swamps of Mog ________________________________________ 2-52
The Mudmines of Karansk _______________________________________________________ 2-53
SHIFTING SANDS AND ANCIENT TALES _________________________________ 2-54
Subterranean Salt Tunnels ________________________________________________________ 2-54
Sidebar: With a Grain of Salt __________________________________________________ 2-54
The Urkra Mystery _____________________________________________________________ 2-55
The Broken Chasms ____________________________________________________________ 2-56
The Kharakhan Catacombs _______________________________________________________ 2-57
The Archaen Marchway _________________________________________________________ 2-57
The Caranthean Vaults __________________________________________________________ 2-57
The Ancient Ruins______________________________________________________________ 2-58
Sidebar: A Thaumaturge's Vault ________________________________________________ 2-58
The Emerald Eye _______________________________________________________________ 2-61
Deadwood ____________________________________________________________________ 2-61
Map: Black-Wood Tunnels Beneath Deadwood____________________________________ 2-62
The Satada ____________________________________________________________________ 2-63
DEEP WHITE___________________________________________________________ 2-65
Black and White _______________________________________________________________ 2-65
Sidebar: Slumbering Ice ______________________________________________________ 2-65
Cold Storage __________________________________________________________________ 2-66
The Icy Dungeon _______________________________________________________________ 2-66
High and Far __________________________________________________________________ 2-67
Sidebar: Encounters in the Deep White __________________________________________ 2-68
Crystal Corridors _______________________________________________________________ 2-69
The Ruins of Farnir _____________________________________________________________ 2-69
The Hoarfrost Mines ____________________________________________________________ 2-70
Map: Ice-Locked Ruins of Farnir _______________________________________________ 2-71
Hiding in the Dark ______________________________________________________________ 2-72

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Chapter Three: Going Down ____________________________________________ 2-73
ADVENTURING UNDERGROUND __________________________________________ 2-73
ADVENTURE SEEDS ____________________________________________________ 2-74
Durne and the Darklands _________________________________________________________ 2-74
Fan-Ra-San Tears ______________________________________________________________ 2-74
Full Demonic Circle ____________________________________________________________ 2-74
Muddy Business _______________________________________________________________ 2-74
Thaumatreasurehunt ____________________________________________________________ 2-74
Facing the Dark ________________________________________________________________ 2-74
Chapter Four: Rockbottom Lore_________________________________________ 2-75
Equipment ____________________________________________________________________ 2-75
Magic________________________________________________________________________ 2-75
Paths ________________________________________________________________________ 2-75
Skills ________________________________________________________________________ 2-76
Chapter Five: Secrets Buried Deep _______________________________________ 2-77
UNDERGROUND LORE ___________________________________________________ 2-77
Geology ______________________________________________________________________ 2-77
Orientation____________________________________________________________________ 2-77
Weight _______________________________________________________________________ 2-77
Surviving _____________________________________________________________________ 2-77
Modes of Travel _______________________________________________________________ 2-78
Preparation____________________________________________________________________ 2-78
Natural Crystal Resonance _______________________________________________________ 2-78
BESTIARY _____________________________________________________________ 2-78
Aqus ________________________________________________________________________ 2-78
Sidebar: Subterranean Fauna and Flora Found in Other Sources _______________________ 2-78
Earthwisps ____________________________________________________________________ 2-79
Float-footed centipedes __________________________________________________________ 2-79
Provlo _______________________________________________________________________ 2-79
Rocktail ______________________________________________________________________ 2-79
Tearfish ______________________________________________________________________ 2-79

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 CHAPTER ONE

Travelling
Underground
This is where our lands truly begin, son. Here at Tunnelrock Gate, where the surface road from
Cymril descends into the Tunnels that lead to Durne. From here, the Underground Highway will
take you anywhere you want to go. When you grow up and join the Protectors Force you will see
many wondrous places that are somehow connected to our home. Terra has taught us to travel
where the surface races don’t even know it’s possible. Trust in her to lead you. And now we must
go back home, son, for Terra won’t prevent mom getting angry if we’re late for dinner.

Lessons by a Gnomekin father

Rock being pulverised under the progressive
attack of giant jaws…
The trampling of soldiers boots echoing
rhythmically…
The ‘plok’ of water drops falling on soft stone,
slowly eroding it away…
The screams of creatures trapped and killed by
other creatures…
The trickle of a small stream finding its way
through a cave…
The majestic rumble of a collapse…
Endless silence…
These are the sounds that define the
Underground Highway throughout the ages,
over and over again, from the birth of the land
to its final destiny. For without light,
describing this realm to surface dwellers is
impossible for lack of words that define the
intricate atmospheres found underground. For
how would one convey to an Aamanian priest
the clay-iron-like smell of air just a degree
colder that indicates the presence of water in a
layer of solid granite, or the difference in the
sound of breaking rock that is a mere
consequence of it cooling down or that
indicates an imminent collapse to a Kang
warrior? Perhaps the Gnomekin and the Vajra
possess a vocabulary for some of these things,
but even their jargon is not apt to describe the
dynamic growth and decline of this vast
network of tunnels, passages, rivers, caverns

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 66

Subterranean
Talislanta

37
37

69
30

32 59

27 28
72
35

61

21

18 20
54
36 14 21
22

22 60

50

23

51
53
48

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 67
69

70

65 39

38
44
42

56
60

40 42
59

43

42
55

48

46

57

57

61

60
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THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY

2-7
and other hollow spaces in the Talislantan
continent over the ages.
The only way to really know the
Underground Highway is to explore it and
learn. Let’s start our journey and bring some
light into the darkness of this subterranean
realm of Talislanta.
HISTORY
What is known today as the Underground
Highway is the result of millennia of forces of
nature, magic and hard labour working their
ways through Talislantan soil. Traversing it is
like wandering through a history book. The
legendary Underground Highway from
Phandril to Golarin and the one travelled today
below the Seven Kingdoms mysteriously mix
with the burrows of the legendary Urkra and
the eroded streams of the Western Waterways.
This amalgam of different origins of spaces in
a myriad of geological layers makes the
Underground Highway as colourful as life
under the twin suns.
From the Time Before Time, some parts
of the Underground Highway were created
naturally, through the forces of erosion and
eruption, geological pressure and collapse.
Ever since major cultures started to flourish in
various eras, additional tunnels and rooms
were carved by hard labour or use of magic.
Over time, long stretches disappeared or
opened up to the skies as the result of disasters
or neglect and new sections appeared as
quickly whenever nature or people found a
way or a need. Almost a living thing itself, the
Underground Highway grows and decays
constantly, and theories saying that this
occurred according to some greater plan have
never held much ground. Despite the organic
ways by which it developed over time, as a
consequence of its unpredictable rise and fall,
the Underground Highway isn’t a whole.
Many tunnels don’t connect or can’t be
crossed because of flooding, chasms, cave-ins,
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or wild magic. Other parts aren’t even
underground, but run from one tunnel entrance
to the next through old river beds or canyon
floors. Many a section goes nowhere at all.
Yet, the Underground Highway is well named,
because many species, sentient or not, use it
for living and travel throughout the entire
continent of Talislanta. And so it will be until
the end of times.
THE FORGOTTEN AGE
The age of which only legends remain.
Due to its place in the Omniverse, Archaeus
has probably been under the influence of other
spheres from the day of its creation, if powers
from those planes didn’t have a hand in that as
well. If there is any evidence left that tells
about the creation of the world, it is likely to
be found underground. From that time on,
water eroded stone and washed away clay;
tectonic pressures broke rock masses leaving
empty spaces in between to drain the water
collected above; where tunnels connected to
the surface, draughts of wind dried humid
spaces and polished through pores until there
were new tunnels. Doubtlessly openings
appeared where they should not have, creating
gates into other dimensions. Whether it is
through these that the first life appeared, or
that the Green World emanated into the matter
of Archaeus waking elementals that started
roaming the world above and below, the world
got populated by a variety of races who left
traces of their existence behind. On rare
occasions unfamiliar fossils are found that can
not be related to anything alive today, and
shimmerings of powerful ancient magic are
discovered that are likely not of this world.
There is no doubt that the mythical race of
the Thane knew how to build underground.
Their elaborate tombs and mausoleums extend
deep into the rock beneath Khazad. There are
tales by explorers that some graves are dug so
deep they might not even be in this world
anymore. However, the sanity and
trustworthiness of these brave adventurers has
been doubted as often as not. Some claim that
the carvings on the stone pillars or the pattern
of those pillars on the land hold the secret to a
map of the subterranean network of burial
chambers that hide an enormous wealth in
treasures. Indeed, the dead city of Necron is
buried under the sands of the region and it
remains to be discovered whether time
covered it with sand or the Thane made it sink
beneath the surface or maybe even built it
there in the first place.
The Mirin of L’Haan say that beneath the
thick layers of ice, there are signs that the
white region in the North used to be fertile
plains in the days of the First Folk and later,
until the Ice Giants claimed the region. Rare
reports from explorers who ventured into this
area mention tunnels through the ice down to
solid earth where they discovered rare non-
magical artefacts of unknown origin. The
strange dietary need of the Ice Giants to first
freeze any organic food to make it digestible
has also led to the discovery of forgotten
frozen corpses of unfamiliar races, probably
millennia old. Unfortunately, no such corpse
was ever transported to the civilized world in
order to back-up these claims.
The Maruk and other people from the
Wilderlands of Zaran and the Plains of Golarin
have legends about the origin of the Kra.
According to their tales, most of the tunnels
beneath the western Wilderlands were made
by the spawn of an ancient serpentine creature.
In the early days of the world, a gargantuan
snakelike monster, later named the Urkra, fell
from the heavens and crashed into the Maruk
Mountains. When, after years, it recovered
enough from its celestial descent to move
again, it turned its back on the sky and started
to burrow into the earth. According to this
legend, Serpent Pass is the now-eroded canyon
created by its rough landing and the slope
down towards a huge round opening into the
ground evidence of its final escape from the
skies. No expedition ever returned to confirm
the existence of such a creature beneath the
Wilderlands. Of course this could be
considered evidence in itself…
Throughout the lands of Talislanta legends
from the Forgotten Age can be found. It’s
THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY
2-9
worthwhile to sit down and listen when the old
folks rehearse the tales of their people. While
much of these tales can be referred to the
realm of the imagination, keep in mind that it
is likely some truths are hidden among the
fantasy that just may save your day sometime
and let you live to tell your tales back home on
long evenings around a warm fire in the
hearth.
THE ARCHAEN AGE
Legends describe the early Archaen city of
Phandril as sandstone polished to beauty by
elemental magics. Given the greatness of the
Archaen race, it seems fair to assume that
earth magic, and later thaumaturgy too, were
used in the creation of this city and its majestic
towers. It then follows that the Archaen mages
didn’t use this magic aboveground only.
Indeed, ancient lore regarding the Last Dragon
War provides hints that in addition to
disabling the Watchstone, the Archaen mages
created a huge underground highway to
quickly move armies of Archaen and Sub-Men
troops close to the city of Golarin unnoticed. It
is possible that this road extended as far North
as Kharakhan, if the speed with which this city
was taken is any indication. It is likely that
this subterranean road remained in use for
trade and diplomacy between Phandril and the
Four Nations until the War of the Four
Nations. It would certainly have been
abandoned, if not blocked or destroyed to
defend Phandril against the Necromancer King
Drax and his armies. No mention of this
highway has been recorded since the Archaen
Cabal declared the Age of Heavens.
The Drakken were never known to dig
deep. Several Sub-Men tribes, however, may
well have resided in caves and tunnels. These
would for the majority be of natural origin, but
it is quite possible that these tribes developed
mining techniques to expand their living space
and make it more comfortable. Ancient,
relatively crude but artificial cavern
complexes were found to exist in the Sapphire
Mountains, the mountain range between the
South-eastern Wilderlands and the Kang
Empire and in the Khan Mountains.
Unfortunately, following the departure of the
Archaens to the sky cities, little lore of the
affairs on the ground found its way into the
archives above. If any treasures remain to be
found in the Sub-Men hideouts, they would be
of value to any historian or collector.
In the course of history, the lands between
the Dead River and the Volcanic Hills have
been the scene of many battles. Spoils of
ancient battles got buried under thick layers of
dust and soil. Burial mounds slowly levelled
into the earth and disappeared, and there must
be quite many mass graves scattered all over
those plains. If one would know where to look
and find their way through Land Kra tunnels,
Satada passages, unstable ruins of ancient
sewers and grave robber digs to such places, it
should, at least in theory, be possible to find
many a treasure chamber full of
miraculous items.
THE GREAT DISASTER
Then came the apocalyptic end of the
Archaen culture. The rupture of the tectonic
plates that severed continents from the rest of
the world and the random occurrence of
massive surges of magic wreaking havoc in
mountains and seas alike as they cleft their
way through the world destroyed many of the
existing tunnels while creating new ones. It
was as if a surgeon cauterised all of the many
veins through which Talislanta was bleeding
to death with a single motion and the continent
sprouted a whole new vascular system in its
body, but was left with many scars. The
creation of the Lost Sea and the Dead River
made new passages accessible that were
flooded before. Also the tunnel-ridden
canyons in Northern Sindar find their origin in
these times. The layer of Ice in the Narandu
increased spectacularly, becoming thick
enough for a new race of subarctic creature to
make burrows in. The first recordings of the
Western Waterways can be traced back to
shortly after the Great Disaster, as can tales
about the existence of the Colourful Caverns
in the East. The first appearance of the
Subterranoids is further evidence that the
Great Disaster caused a magical stampede
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even deep below the world’s surface and the
Underground Highway would never be the
same again.
THE PHAEDRAN AGE
When the Great Disaster finally had run
its course, the land masses settled again in a
more or less stable configuration. During the
last six centuries, nature and rogue magic have
kept themselves relatively quiet. Land Kra
have always been a danger to travellers along
the Underground Highway. The Satada have
gradually become an ever increasing threat, as
has the appearance of the new underground
race of Subterranoids. Following the
establishment of the alliance of the Seven
Kingdoms, the Gnomekin from Durne further
excavated existing tunnels leading South from
the Tunnelrock Mountains and so created what
is today commonly referred to as the
Underground Highway. With their capture by
the Quan, the Vajra had to abandon their
extensive underground homes for a life in
slave camps. Any chance of discovering the
extent of their access to the Eastern Stretch of
the Underground Highway has been brought
down to a minimum due to the Vajra’s passive
resistance. The same goes for any knowledge
the Sunra might have about underground
waterways in that area. Recently, the
Gnomekin have started to chart the
Underground Highway beyond the Seven
Kingdoms area and established the Geological
Repository in their capital city, Durne.
TRAVELLING
UNDERGROUND
THE UNDERGROUND
HIGHWAY
The name ‘Underground Highway’
doesn’t do justice to this vast network of
subterranean passageways. It is impossible to
describe the paved road from Durne to Cymril
along with the muddy canals below the tree
roots in the Southern swamps and the lava
lake hidden beneath the Volcanic Hills
together in only a few words. Each stretch of
the Underground Highway is unique, with its
own peculiar properties. If there is anything
experienced Gnomekin explorers have
learned, it is how much they have still to learn
about the deep world. The public and secret
passages of the Underground Highway in the
Seven Kingdoms are well-known and easy to
travel. To walk in the caverns of soft rock
below the Western Lands requires watertight
high boots and wind-shielded lanterns. Travel
through the burrows of the Land Kra is fast,
but means going ever deeper into more
dangerous territory. The icy slideways in the
North may seem like spectacular fun, until that
dead-end turn proves to be worth its name.
Sure, the hollow carcasses of fallen giant
bombo trees sunk in the Southern marshes are
an inviting escape from the swarms of biting
insects, but is it worth the risk of the rotting
roof caving in, flooding the tunnel with mud?
The Underground Highway is a marvellous
place and provides ways to travel long
distances quickly or avoid certain hazards
from the surface. But a wise traveller learns as
much of the road ahead as he can, because the
Underground Highway is truly a different
place than sunlit Talislanta.
LEARNING THE ROCKS
Darkness is the most common obstacle
encountered on the Underground Highway,
and the one most often underestimated. The
easiest solution is to bring torches or lanterns.
Many an inexperienced traveller, however,
forgets that flames require oxygen to burn and
deep down in tunnels without ventilation,
oxygen can be a preciously scarce commodity.
When travelling through humid passages,
torches tend to get wet and fill the air with a
choking smoke. Safer, but more rare and
costly light sources include glowing fungi,
crystals or magical items. The major drawback
of bringing light is, of course, that it can be
seen from far ahead in the dark and tends to
attract unwanted attention. Another
THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY
2 - 11
disadvantage is that it ruins your vision
beyond the immediate radius of illumination.
If any light, no matter how dim, is available
from the surroundings, it is advisable to
extinguish any light sources and rely on the
sharpened sensitivity of your eyes and other
senses. Natural light sources come in many
forms, as light falling in through holes in the
ceiling, phosphorescent plants, crystals, bugs,
magical illumination, or ghostly mists, to
name a few.
Next, travellers quickly discover that
navigating underground isn’t as easy as on the
surface. The Underground Highway below the
Seven Kingdoms is quite unique in having
road signs to indicate the destination a tunnel
leads to. Anywhere else, the responsibility for
correctly navigating this three-dimensional
network of subterranean passageways can’t be
put on someone else’s shoulders. Awareness
of the surroundings can be a great help in
underground navigation. Having some
knowledge of geology is most valuable to
interpret changes in the rock walls in relation
to where the various exits of a cavern lead.
Limestone is abundantly present in the West,
obsidian below Urag and the Volcanic Hills.
Smooth walls indicate the presence of water
and mosaic multi-layered walls are evidence
of the forces that were at work during the
Great Disaster. The same goes for animal and
plant lore as, for example, rock urchins will
only be found close to the surface and root
grub only live in the South of Talislanta. If
breathing becomes difficult and fatigue comes
quickly, that is typically a sign of very deep
tunnels where ventilation is minimal and
oxygen is available in limited supply.
The Underground Highway plays tricks
with the mind. Not only the darkness, but also
being confined to narrow enclosed spaces, the
many slopes and turns that make scouting
ahead impossible, the need to be constantly
aware of your footing and the stability of the
roof have driven many explorers to, and
sometimes over, the edge of madness. Even
experienced travellers admit that this can be a
tense experience occasionally, but they also
tell about the peaceful silence and reaching a
meditative state walking through dim, quiet
tunnels. However, all agree that time is
impossible to keep track of underground and
even the seasons are unnoticeable more than
20 feet underground. The best is to rely on
your own biological clock and eat, drink,
move and sleep when your body tells you to.
Be sure to pack enough supplies and gear
before starting out underground. The
Underground Highway can be a barren
environment, although there are spots of
abundance to be found. Once the sun is out of
sight, there are no more opportunities for
shopping. Surface activities to make the life of
the survivalist a bit more comfortable, like
gathering wood for fire, hunting for food or
gathering edible plants, sipping up dew to
quench the thirst, or climbing a tree for shelter
or escape from some wild creature, are all a lot
more difficult in a dark, dry tunnel with only
two exits. Don’t forget to bring a pick axe,
spikes, rope, and a hammer, too. No matter
how famous the guide who said that tunnel
was clear only a week ago, if after three days
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travel you are faced with a caved-in section or
a chasm, without the right equipment all that’s
left to do is turn around and go back up. Wear
sturdy, watertight and warm clothing. Some
spaces are only wide enough to crawl through
over sharp edges. The atmosphere deep down
is very constant and mostly not extremely
cold, but it’s cool enough to feel chilly if not
properly dressed and prolonged exposure to
low temperatures when wet can be deadly.
Finally, enjoy travelling the Underground
Highway. For well-prepared travellers it is no
more dangerous than going under the open
sky. The Underground Highway promises
unique experiences that cannot be found in the
light of the twin suns and the seven moons.
Crystalline caves filled with sounds from
unknown places, sliding through tunnels of ice
at high speed, native underground cultures,
and the chance of finding buried treasures out
of legends are just a few of the things that
should compel any adventurer to go below
ground, if only once in his lifetime.
 CHAPTER TWO
Excerpts from
the Geological
Repository
in Durne
The problem with maps is that they are only two-dimensional.
Durne… underground city, city of moss,
and home of the Geological Respository.
Opened only in the year 600, the Geological
Repository already has gained fame at the
centre for all things geological. Its public
museum proudly presents the unique Strata
Sample Collection, the Miniature Mines
exposition, the Crystallomantic Artefacts
display and for the young ones, the A-maze-
ing Tunnel Tour and the sculpting workshop.
However, for anyone intent on travelling the
Underground Highway, its extensive
Geological Repository Library is the true
treasure chamber. Here, thousands of maps are
THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY
2 - 13
Famous Gnomekin explorer Emmo Ebono
stored along with traveller’s reports,
geological lore books, treatises on excavation
techniques, speleology textbooks, bestiaries on
subterranean species, legends pertaining to the
Underground Highway in ages long gone. It a
well-kept Gnomekin secret where all these
tomes, scrolls, sculptures and lore crystals
came from in such a short period of time. Fact
is that besides any unknown benefactors, the
Geological Repository maintains standing
orders with the Protectors Force to chart and
report back any new information gathered on
missions into foreign parts of the Underground
Highway. In addition, the Geological
Repository occasionally hires freelance
explorers for expeditions to map specific
underground regions. Much of this
information is available after purchasing a
membership to the Geological Repository
Library, but classified information or fragile
resources may be viewed after making an
appointment with the Geolore Masters who
run the Library.
THE GNOMEKIN
PROTECTORATE
“They want LIGHTS in the Underground
Highway? You’d think those big-shot mages
from Cymril can conjure up enough to
illuminate their journey.”
From the minutes of the Inner Circle of
Engineers, Durne, year 457
The Underground Highway is among the
best roads in the Seven Kingdoms and sees a
substantial part of all traffic in this region. For
this reason, the rulers of the Seven Kingdoms
agreed that the security of the Underground
Highway below the Seven Kingdoms was to
be given into the hands of the Protectors
Force, which makes up the majority of the
Durne military and are highly specialized in
underground combat, with backup available
from the other countries’ armies should
conflict arise. The main tunnels below the
Seven Kingdoms that fall under the
responsibility of the Protectors Force are
called the Gnomekin Protectorate and are
marked regularly with a variation of the
symbol of the Seven Kingdoms (a six-pointed
star - a green hexagon at its centre
representing Cymril and azure, crimson, aqua-
blue, brown, orange and purple points,
representing Astar, Taz, Vardune, Durne,
THE LOST BOOKS OF TALISLANTA
2 - 14
Sindar and Kasmir respectively, but down here
the brown of Durne forms the centre). Many
other tunnels, public and secret, exist as well
in the region and may or may not be patrolled
by the Protectors Force. It is easy to
underestimate the power of these small troops
as many invaders painfully found out; still
many wandering monsters and raiders enter
the Underground Highway through the
secondary tunnels to make trouble in the
world above.
THE SEVENTH ROAD
The Real Underground Highway
Everyone in the Seven Kingdoms knows
about the Seven Roads and there being only
six roads drawn on any map. The existence of
the Underground Highway is no secret. Durne
Avenue, the northern road out of the city of
Cymril splits about a quarter mile beyond the
city gates, where another gate, made of bright
blue azurite crystals, leads into Station Seven
or Deep-Down-Durne Station as it’s called in
children’s songs. This is where the
Station Seven
Station Seven is a large building
made of curled red iron and large clear
crystal windows, like a giant
greenhouse. An airdock allows skyships
to moor. Inside, Station Seven is home
to the station guard barracks, the
Skylight Inn, and an indoor farmers
market, which serves many a Gnomekin
merchant. Immediately behind the gate,
the road sharply slopes down towards a
wide tunnel opening. The opening is
decorated with the carved symbols of
the Seven Kingdoms. On one side, just
inside the opening facing outward stands
the granite statue of a Gnomekin
protector, on the other side, just outside
the opening and facing inward stands the
marble statue of a Cymrilian
royal guard.
Underground Highway begins, and most
Cymrilians have visited Station Seven, if only
out of curiosity or for the majestic building
and its indoor farmers market. Going down
from Station Seven runs one of the best roads
of the Seven Kingdoms. Its surface is smooth
all the way, it doesn’t get slippery because it’s
always dry and never extremely cold, there are
no storms and only few difficulties in the
terrain, such as steep slopes.
Following an ancient curving trail of
unknown origin, the Underground Highway
carves its way North through a thick layer of
granite rock. After two hundred miles, the
Underground Highway opens up into Durne
Junction, an impressive cavern full of
stalactites and stalagmites surrounding a dark
lake that mirrors the many colours of
prismatite crystals embedded in the rock. The
surface road, that went underground into
Tunnelrock Mountain at Tunnelrock Gate,
joins the Underground Highway here for the
last couple of miles to the city of Durne. At
Durne Junction, the Home Guard division of
the Protectors Force is stationed. From here,
many smaller roads run to various destinations
in the Kingdom of Durne too. Where the two
big roads join, a crystal statue of a Gnomekin
warrior hunting a Darkling stands as a
memorial to the One-Day War in the year 67,
when the Gnomekin drove a Darkling horde
back into Urag.
The Underground Highway is a marvel of
underground engineering. By order of the
King and Queen of Durne, the Inner Circle of
Engineers employed scores of skilled miners
to transform what was once an uneven,
winding and musty tunnel into a two hundred
mile road, high and wide enough to
accommodate carriages. Sections near the
entrance are decorated by sculptors, painters
and other artists on commission by wealthy
merchants, nobles and city officials. Further
along, the crude granite rock makes up the
walls and ceiling, but the floor is smooth all
the way. The Underground Highway is
artificially illuminated and ventilated along the
entire track.
THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY
2 - 15
Tunnel Lights
Resonant crystals exist in many
forms throughout Talislanta. Tuned to
other crystals, these rare magic stones
emit whatever is absorbed by another
crystal, usually sound or light. The
prismatite crystals in the Underground
Highway are tuned to emit the natural
light caught by the crystal built into the
spire of the royal palace in Cymril.
Placed at two hundred foot intervals,
these bright lights provide illumination
for only a relatively small area, but they
show the way ahead and give travellers
in indication of the time of day. It took
the Cabal of Crystallomancers over a
century to grow enough fine-tuned
crystals for the entire Underground
Highway. These crystals need each other
to propagate the light resonance and will
not work outside of the Underground
Highway. In between the prismatite
beacons phosphorescent fungi growing
on the walls. Most surface-dwelling
races barely consider this illumination,
and brightly lit caravans can frequently
be spotted long distances away.
The road doesn’t run straight ahead for
long in most places, but according to legend, it
follows the curves of an ancient trail. At some
places, the Underground Highway goes as
deep as two hundred feet below the surface,
but mostly it runs at depths between fifty and
one hundred feet. Steep passages are part of
the track, but all can be climbed and
descended by healthy people and beasts of
burden in good condition. Maybe this ancient
trail is the reason that travel isn’t dull on the
Underground Highway, as the road frequently
passes grottos with spectacular sights. Among
these are a pond with phosphorescent eels
slithering with an eerie green light between the
plants on the bottom, a grotto with an ever-
present mist caused by a ‘garden’ of stone
coral that sprays the air with a sweet smelling
fluid that attracts insects, the fossilized body
of a large geophage, and cave drawings of a A bunk hole
long forgotten culture. Many smaller tunnels, on the
some little more than cracks in the wall, split
off from the Underground Highway, leaving Underground
the traveller to wonder where they all lead to. Highway
At twenty five mile intervals, artificial
caverns have been carved out at the side of the
road. Called bunk holes by troops of the
Protectors Force, these caverns serve as camp
sites for travellers in peace time and as
barracks in times of armed conflict. Fresh
water is available here from natural wells or
small waterfalls. Ever since the Underground
Highway was officially opened by the kings of
Durne and Cymril more than a century ago, a
persistent tale has been going around about the
existence of secret tunnels that lead from each
of these caverns to a secret military command
post. However, no one has ever been able to
find an entrance to confirm the story.

The Underground Highway, though one of

the safest roads in Talislanta, certainly is not
free of dangers. It is infested with the same
nuisances encountered on most civilised roads,
such as beggars, peddlers and bandits.
Connecting tunnels are home to a variety of
wild animals and plants, such as cave bats,
scarlet sporozoids, and chasm vipers.
Occasionally, a lost exomorph or invading
parties of satada or subterranoids pose a
serious threat to travellers. The Protectors
Force patrols the Underground Highway to
keep it clear of dangers. Some Underground
Highway patrols employ trained catdracs to
help them detect invaders or to convey
messages quickly.

Major Branches
Less well-known than the Seventh Road
are the major branches of the Underground
Highway running East and West through the
soil of the Seven Kingdoms. Some fifty miles
South of Tunnelrock, a remarkable tunnel
opens up eastward from the main road. The
portal to this tunnel is the sculpture of a land
kra eating its own tail. This tunnel itself looks
similar to the Seventh Road and equally well

THE LOST BOOKS OF TALISLANTA

2 - 16
to travel, but is much smaller and doesn’t
allow carriages to enter. The end of this road
lies in Sindar, near the city of Nadir, from A grotto on the
where a different path continues to Kasmir and Underground
Astar. A second major branch has its entrance
at Durne Junction. It leads to the city of Highway
Valanis in Vardune, going North around the
city of Durne, passing just south of Ironroot.
This tunnel is the left-handed twin of the road
to Sindar until it reaches Valanis. From there,
less magnificent tunnels lead south to Vashay,
passing beneath Aamanian soil in the bend of
the Axis River, and from there to Vahana and
Targ in the jungles of Taz and through the
Cinnabar Mountains to Tor.

THE CYMRIL UNDERGROUND

CONNECTION
In ancient times, the citizens of Cymril
used to bury their garbage in underground
caverns for lack of a river to wash it away and
reluctance to dump it out in the countryside.
Most of their waste is now disposed of
magically, either by citizens who know how to
themselves, or by public services. This has left
the old sewer-tunnels exposed for people to
make other use of. As all dark places, it is an
attractive place for elements from the local
underworld to build hideouts and storage
places, to hold meetings, or to use it as a fast
entry or escape route. Indeed it is rumoured
that most older buildings used to be connected
to the old sewer-tunnels and that many exit
shafts have not been sealed properly. For
examples, as yet unexplained escapes have
occurred from the Cymril Court Dungeons
south of Durne Park. If someone were looking
to get in touch with criminal, rebellious or
radical factions, for a place to conduct certain
rituals well out of sight of prying eyes, or for
an illegal dump site, the old sewer-tunnels
would be a good place to start.

The nearby Seventh Road is a good

facility to have at hand for those who frequent
the sewer-tunnels below Cymril. It wasn’t
long after the arrival of the first underground
residents that new tunnels were dug that
connect the Cymril Underground with the

THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY

2 - 17
Seventh Road. These connections are a likely
source of the constant supply of annoying
peddlers, thieves, and escaped critters in the
Encounters in
Seventh Road, who never passed the guards at the Gnomekin Protectorate
Station Seven.
Use this table for encounter ideas or
roll 1d20 to select a random encounter.
THE UNDERGROUND CITY Add a modifier of +1 to +10 according
OF DURNE to the distance from civilized areas.
Tunnelrock and adjacent mountains are
Roll Encounter
home to a huge complex of grottos, caverns
1 Curious Gnomekin children
and hollows connected in an apparently
2 Merchant caravan
random way by a series of tunnels. Access to
3 Magician and servants
Tunnelrock and Durne is controlled by what
4 Sindaran collector
the Gnomekin call ‘tall tunnels’, high enough
5 Pharesian peddler
to comfortably accommodate Sindar visitors
6 Kasmiran beggar
and well illuminated. Most other passageways
7 Discarded item(s)
throughout these mountains are ‘kin tunnels’,
8 Gnomekin Scout and catdrac
no more than four to five foot in height and
9 Entrance to the Slideways
dark.
10-11 Group of Gnomekin Protectors
12 Unoccupied hideout or lair
The capital city of the Gnomekin lies 200
13 Bunk hole or sentinel post
feet below the surface. It is made up of moss-
14 Statue and/or fountain alcove
lined cave dwellings called nooks that are
15 Unusual grotto, roll again:
connected by a network of tunnels and
1-4 A mass of insects
underground streams and lakes. On most
5-8 A tangle of vegetation
waterways, ferries are available or boats can
9-12 A water source
be rented. Around the nooks, there are large
13-16 Resonant crystals
caverns the Gnomekin use for growing food
17-20 Other
and breeding fish, and by crystallomancers for
16 Unlit stretch of road
growing crystals. Sentinel posts are scattered
17 Band of caravan bugs
throughout the city for security. Walking
18 Remains from a recent battle
through Durne is a strange experience for most
19 Arimite troublemakers
surface dwellers, even if they stay only in the
20 Fossilized geophage
high-roofed and well-lit Open Arms Nook
21 Colony of rock urchins
dedicated to visiting dignitaries.
22 Interesting cave drawings
23 Infestation of root grubs
The Resonant Grotto 24 Ambush by bandits
Near the centre of Durne lies a crystal 25 Flurry of cave bats
grotto that attracts many visitors. This small 26 Scarlet sporozoid
cave contains a cluster of natural resonant 27 Chasm viper lying in wait
crystals. These are a wondrous collection of 28 Wandering exomorph
various types of crystals that protrude from 29 Roving land kra
their rocky bed as if showing a certain pride in 30 Invading war party, roll again:
their peculiar nature. Of some crystals it is 1-5 Darklings
hard to image that they are natural and uncut. 6-9 Satada
The thing that draws the people are the sounds 10-15 Subterranoids
emanating from them. Resonant crystals can 16-20 Other
emit sounds that other crystals of the same
kind elsewhere in Talislanta pick up.

THE LOST BOOKS OF TALISLANTA

2 - 18
Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to tell
where the sounds originated. A particular
pastime for Gnomekin children is to come The Durne Slideways
here and shout something in the expectation
that someone, somewhere far away hears
them. Parents are wary of letting their children
play there too often, because of tales that
voices performing dark rituals have been
heard in the sounds of the crystal resonance.

THE DURNE SLIDEWAYS

While the sentinel posts protect the
Gnomekin within the city, Durne has more
extensive defences that have proven their
value over time against, for example, the
darklings and the satada. Foremost among
these defences is a masterpiece of
subterranean engineering called the Durne
slideways. The slideways consist of an
intricate series of stairways and elevators that
lead to the start of a long polished slope,
which in turn ends at the base of another series
of stairways and elevators. Each Gnomekin
protector possesses a piece of soft leather that
has been rubbed with an oily soap for sitting
on while riding the slideway. Using the
slideway, the Gnomekin are able to move
large numbers of troops and goods to all
corners of Durne in a very short time. The
slideways are small kin tunnels for their own
defence. Like the rest of the kin tunnel
network, there are many slideway slopes that
end in pitfalls or other deadly traps. Maps of
the Durne slideways are strictly military
property. In peacetime, the slideways are
allowed to be used for transporting trade
goods under supervision of the
Protectors Force.

IRONROOT
In the Seven Kingdoms and beyond,
Ironwood is famous for providing extremely
strong, durable wood. Much less well known
is the underground forest called Ironroot.
Ironwood trees grow single long roots that
grow straight down and extract all metal
elements from the ground. This flow causes a
strong magnetic field to permeate throughout
Ironroot. Along with the traces of metal, all

THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY

2 - 19
water is extracted from the earth, leaving no
more than a thick layer of powdery dust that
whirls up in suffocating clouds if disturbed.
The dust is flushed away after a day of heavy
rainfall, creating an ever deeper and strange
cavern below Ironwood, filled with metallic
poles that are the ever-deeper growing roots of
the trees above. A strong magnetic field
surrounding each of the roots makes it
extremely awkward to traverse this cavern
while carrying iron or steel equipment.
Without iron, it is easy to cross this dusty
place, but it’s amazing how widely iron is
used in making weapons, armour, tools,
buttons, hooks, keys, cutlery, lanterns, etc.
Evidence of this fact can be found all along
the edge of Ironroot. The main entrance to
Ironroot is by a side tunnel from the
Underground Highway between Tunnelrock
and Durne.
SINDAR CANYONS
This is one of those places where the
Underground Highway isn’t underground all
the time. Sindar is a strange land of towering
mesas and odd rock formations. The shadows
of the mesas and corridors of overhanging
rock make ideal passages to sneak through this
country. The strong Satada presence in Sindar
has created a series of hunting paths that allow
an easy crossing at the ground level of the
land. At various points, these paths cross the
Sindar branch of the Seven Roads, which also
runs along the canyon floors. The hunting
paths frequently enter into the sides of the
mesas and canyon walls to reach the next
canyon or a dried up river bed at the other
side. In some mesas, there are passages all the
way to the top. When discovered, the
Sindarans make them collapse for security
reasons, preferring to control access to the top
of the mesa by the exclusive use of winch
platforms. However, the Satada have proven
that it’s hard to destroy these tunnels
thoroughly enough to prevent them from being
restored. The one exception is the passage up
the Nadir mesa, which connects at the bottom
to a major branch of the Underground
Highway to Durne. This entrance to this
passage is blocked with a carefully hidden
THE LOST BOOKS OF TALISLANTA
2 - 20
door. Even if found, its intricate lock is
designed by dual-encephalon minds and will
boggle all but the most intelligent persons.
Upwards, the passage is filled with traps and
strategically placed shooting holes. Sindaran
rods of alchemy are most effective in the
narrow spaces of this passage. A group of
armed Sindaran guides are present here to
escort visitors up the mesa tunnel to Nadir and
playing Trivarian in their spare time. From
here, the tunnel proceeds underground in a
southeast direction to the other side of the
mesa. There it exits onto the canyon floor. A
series of hunting paths, mesa passages and
geyser pipes leads southeast into the
mountains bordering Kasmir. Smaller paths
lead east, towards the Sapphire Mountains,
where a few tunnels allow passage into the
Dead River.
Dry as the land is on the surface and in the
mesa tunnels, hidden water sources are known
to exist scattered through the underground
realm. Just follow the dry bed of a stream to
its source and there is often an entrance to the
subterranean, or one can easily be created with
a pick axe or the right spells. Created by high-
pressure jets forced through the cracks of the
yellow rock, many of these ‘geyser pipes’ are
high and wide enough to walk through
comfortably. Further down, walking often
becomes wading as water doesn’t evaporate
here as fast as it does on the surface.
The underground streams below Sindar
are notoriously dangerous to travel. Although
the water level in most geyser pipes is
nowhere any more than knee deep,
occasionally tectonic pressure, seismic forces
and erosion cause geysers to break free from
their pressure domes hidden deep in the Sindar
rock. When that happens, these pressure
domes create violent water spouts that sweep
away everything in their path until they find
release in a spectacular fountain at the surface.
Broken bones, battered weapons and tools,
loose coins and small treasures litter the
Sindar canyon floors as evidence of these
aquatic eruptions. Geyser pipes are
unexpectedly smooth. Though created by
force, rocks and sand polished the rough edges
as the water is propelled through the pipes.
Navigating geyser pipes is relatively easy.
Water spouts always go from deeply hidden
pressure domes upwards, so the direction
towards an exit is obvious. Several pressure
domes are home to a kind of sulphur-loving
algae that thrives under hot and dense
conditions. When exposed to air, these algae
undergo a metabolic change that causes them
to emit a pale yellow sulphurescent light. This
change can be sustained only for short periods
of time, and streams over three days old lose
this natural lighting unless refreshed by
another water spout. That said, in the dry lands
of Sindar under the heat of the twin suns, an
outdoor water source generally dries up within
half a day. Algae in geysers that reach the
surface are subject to very strong
sulphurescent reactions and create Dromelight
Fountains, a spectacular sight at night that is
unique to Sindar.
The mesa passages are the complete
opposites of geyser pipes. These passages are
dark dry paths, barely wide enough to allow
one person at a time to pass through. Bringing
bulky equipment into these tunnels is out of
the question. Passages wind their way through
the rock in all three dimensions. The number
of side tunnels splitting off from the passage is
limited, which facilitates navigation but leaves
few options for escape routes or alternative
ways when running into a collapsed tunnel.
The yellow Sindar rock is relatively soft and
easy to dig through if needed, provided you
carry the right tools. Some tunnels open up in
the side of a mesa high above ground and
make excellent scouting posts.
The strong satada presence is by far the
highest threat to anyone traversing the
Underground Highway through Sindar. The
Sindarans haven’t found a complete
explanation for what makes Sindar so
attractive to the satada, but bits of information
extracted from captured satada warriors
indicate they are searching for something that
was lost to their race here in ancient times.
Satada are usually found in bands of four to
THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY
2 - 21
twenty individuals and are highly aggressive,
but even a lone Satada lying in ambush in a
mesa passage can be a lethal risk. Beside the
Satada, Sindar is home to chasm vipers and
the occasional subterranoid or land kra.
Malathropes have been known to moved in
from the Dead River once in a while. In the
mountainous border in the north, Darklings
and Stryx have been spotted, but these
creatures rarely venture into the Sindar
canyons.
THE SAPPHIRE MOUNTAINS
Bordering the Darklands in the north and
the Dead River in the east, the Sapphire
Mountains effectively isolate the Sindar lands
from their less than friendly neighbours. A
low mountain range, the Sapphire Mountains
would not be a major obstacle if not for the
violent storms that frequently plague its barren
passes. Historically, the Sapphire Mountains
contain only few tunnels, but in the last couple
of centuries, ever more tunnels appeared,
mostly by mining expeditions. The Sapphire
Mountains would be a rich source of
sapphires, if not for the Satada, darklings,
subterranoids and land kra making mining a
hazardous enterprise. At least three major
tunnels through the Sapphire Mountains, all
starting out from Sindar as abandoned mines,
give access to the floor of the Dead River. The
deeper parts of these tunnels are of satada or
land kra origin.
THE DEAD RIVER
This is another stretch of the Underground
Highway not honouring its name. This
winding chasm crosses Talislanta from the
Lost Sea to Baratus Bay. Its depth ranges from
forty feet in the north to one hundred and
twenty feet south of Kasmir. The easiest way
to travel are where paths exist at the top of the
river’s banks. More concealed travellers
usually prefer the dark shadows and
undergrowth of its depths. Most of the Dead
River bed is not very difficult to travel. At its
origin, footing is slippery due to a permanent
layer of ice. Along the middle of Urag, the
western bank is coloured in orange, ochre and
purple by the chemical wastes spilling over
from the Acid Plains. Walking must be done
with care to prevent stepping in a foul pool of
acid that eats away good boots in mere hours.
The wonder of this place comes from the
eastern bank, which is covered with bright
green ivy and other vines. The bend around
Kasmir is notorious for land kra crossing the
Dead River to and from the Wilderlands.
Between the southern jungles and swamps and
the Topaz Mountains the Dead River runs a
rugged course through dark grey, sharp rocks.
After heavy rains, it may be difficult to travel
these parts without a high risk of suffering
serious injuries, because murky water makes it
impossible to see where hands and feet can
safely be placed. Throughout the entire length
of the Dead River, the remains of ships and
water creatures are buried and are sometimes
brought to the surface again. The Dead River
is a main junction of the Underground
Highway. Tunnels of various origins opened
up onto the river bed ever since the river ran
dry, leading to underground places east and
west of the river along its entire course. This
makes the Dead River an attractive site for
underground travellers to plan the next part of
their itinerary from. Unfortunately, most
tunnel entrances look very much alike and
more than one adventurer made a mistake in
counting tunnels and unwittingly chose to
travel a deadly road instead. Behemoths,
malathropes, chasm vipers, Za bandits, and
Satada are known to use these routes
intensively for their respective purposes.
THE LAND KRA BURROWS
OF KASMIR
Kasmir is infamous not only for the
suspicious attitude of its residents, but also for
the numerous land kra inhabiting the desert
lands. Actual encounters with land kra are
infrequent, but when they happen, often
nothing is ever heard again of the unfortunate
party. Kra activity in this region leaves the
lower layers of rock riddled with an ever
changing network of kra burrows. The largest
of these burrows are the oldest, and are
supposedly created by a giant type of land kra
THE LOST BOOKS OF TALISLANTA
2 - 22
that supposedly no longer exists. For some
reason, land kra avoid these burrows
themselves. In contrast, the common smaller
land kra burrows are common places to
encounter these horrors of the rocky depths.
The Kasmir desert is a shifting dunescape
on top of a hard bedrock composed of
alternating layers of yellow and brown rock.
These layers run more or less horizontally,
making depth navigation easy. Land kra prefer
to move through the soft layers of sand at the
surface, where they can usually be spotted by
the long ‘wyrm trails’ that they leave behind.
Their lethal reputation, however, is caused by
kra who wake up deep below the surface, and
burrow straight up through hard rock without
easily detectable signs, and devour the source
of their disturbance. In the darkness of the
burrows, these ‘kra pits’ are hard to detect and
pose a hazard to underground travellers.
From the Sindaran border, two major
roads transect Kasmir’s rocky bottom. A
connecting series of large ancient burrows
approaches the city of Kasir from the North
and a similar series of tunnels runs eastward
and used to end in the Dead River close to the
military outpost Ikarthis. This opening has
been destroyed for defence purposes and the
military contingent at Ikarthis regularly patrols
this part of the Underground Highway and a
specialist squad of Gnomekin sappers makes
sure any new kra burrows meet the same fate.
Kra burrows are too widespread to control all
access from the Dead River into the Kasmir
underground though. As the Kasmirans
wouldn’t dream of risking an invasion from
below, the tunnel to Kasir leads up to the
surface at a strategic distance from the town.
The Underground Highway continues through
the Old Royal Mine, south of Kasir in the
Jaspar Mountains.
THE JASPAR MOUNTAIN
MINES
Just as the Sapphire Mountains form the
northern border of the barren countries that are
part of the Seven Kingdoms, the Jaspar
Mountains form the natural southern barrier
with the green kingdom of the muses. This
barrier is of strategic value because of its
extreme richness in minerals. It is the most
important source of black iron in the Seven
Kingdoms and of gold in Kasmir, but also
quartz and amethyst are mined here in large
quantities. Most precious is the mine in the
most south-western peak in Astar that
provides tiny amounts of the coveted black
diamond. Due to this discovery, the Jaspar
Mountains are now literally riddled with
mines started by prospectors hoping to
become rich quickly. Most of these mines
were eventually abandoned as no valuable
ores were found and are no longer safe
to enter.
Mine entrances are easy to recognize for
their wooden frames of support beams, the
abandoned camp sites and large piles of rubble
nearby. Mine shafts in the Jaspar Mountains
slope downward until they reach the rock
layers where mineral ores are expected. The
majority of mines start as small enterprises
with few labour resources available.
Therefore, mine shafts tend to be narrow,
roughly cut passages with minimal attention
given to support. Notorious among those are
the so-called ‘stairway mines’, that go down
so steeply that steps needed to be cut out in the
floor and lack platforms at regular intervals to
allow for support beams. A wrong step means
risking a bumpy and deadly drop to the bottom
of the shaft. When the depth of the mineral
layers is reached, corridors extend in any
directions the prospectors felt their luck would
lie. Mines that were excavated with the aid of
skilled geomancers are characterised by the
lack of such a maze of corridors and have only
one or two digs running straight towards a
mineral vein. Such mines are of little use to
the subterranean traveller because they
inevitably run into dead ends. Persistent
prospectors, however, created networks of
long, winding corridors that frequently
connect as different people were intent on
mining the same mineral sources. It is possible
to traverse the Jaspar Mountains from the Old
THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY
2 - 23
Royal Mine at Kasir to their most southern
foothills next to Lake Zephyr.
BROWN ASTAR
From the foothills of the Jaspar Mountains
a road leads south to meet one of the Seven
Roads running from Lake Zephyr to the city
state of Danuvia. There it ends. The forest
south of the Astar branch of the Seven Roads
is much denser than the sylvan glades that
make the rest of Astar such a lovely land. Tiny
dirt paths enter this forest. Muse living space
is concentrated around Lake Zephyr, and only
few muses are encountered here. Deep inside
this forest, an unknown part of the Muse race
is hidden. One in every five hundred Muses at
puberty becomes extremely sensitive to the
emotions of all living things around them,
including animals and in rare cases also the
life flow of some plants. Muses bearing this
burden can’t adapt to the highly social life of
their people. Being constantly overwhelmed
by strong impressions from all around them,
they collapse or go mad, unless they separate
themselves from their kin. In their search for
peace of mind, these Muses discovered that
certain hollow trees give access to a system of
grottos deep in the dark brown soil, and they
made a new home there. These grottos are
known among the Muse population as Brown
Astar, while the Muse community living there
refers to the surface lands as Green Astar.
Brown Astar is kept a secret to foreigners, so
as not to disturb the quiet that the Muses living
there so badly need.
Hollow pillow trees give access to a
tunnel into the dark brown soil of Astar. Some
fifty feet below the surface they open up in a
series of large, interconnected spherical caves.
Over thirty such caves have been found, all of
them looking more or less identical. In the
centre of the cave there is a still lake devoid of
life. Around the lake grows a forest of thin
trees with pale yellow bark and white leaves.
The soft ground is covered with a thick layer
of deep purple moss and ferns. At the edge of
the cave the fertile soil is too thin for trees to
take root and is filled with all kinds of edible,
 One of the
Caverns of
Brown Astar

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inedible and even poisonous plants and
mushrooms. Throughout the grottos,
earthwhisps fly around lighting the place up
with their flittering wings, the veins of which
are filled with a white-glowing fluid.
Brown Astar is a very secluded place.
From each cave, there are at least two ways up
to Green Astar through hollow Pillow trees. In
two caves the lake in the centre extends into a
stream that disappears between the roots of the
pale yellow trees. It is conceivable that these
streams have a connection with Lake Zephyr.
THE MUSES OF BROWN
ASTAR
The Muses of Brown Astar are as
beautiful as their surface-dwelling kin,
although they carry an aura of melancholy
around them. In the pale light of their forests,
their translucent robes, as well as their skin,
hair and wings carry the suggestion of a
palette of warm colours that can’t quite be
determined with certainty. Except for the
things described below, the Muses of Brown
Astar are the same as their families above.
Society
Due to their overly sensitive telempathic
mind, the Muses of Brown Astar are solitary
creatures. The grottos are large enough that
they aren’t bothered by each other’s presence,
but they are still always aware of all other
muses nearby. In the grottos, the Muses found
the earthwhisps living there and developed a
close relationship with them. The earthwhisps
live independent lives and don’t serve the
Muses. Instead, they trade the fluid from their
glowglands in exchange for memories of the
world above that they seem to find a
marvellous experience. Muses maintain
relations with several earthwhisps and each
whisp is free to trade its glowing fluids with
different muses.
Customs
The Muses of Brown Astar appear even
more aloof and disinterested than those of
Green Astar. They actively avoid strong
THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY
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emotions and thoughts both in themselves and
others. As a consequence, the Muses don’t
have passionate sexual relationships but may
develop romantic, stable relationships that
may lasts for several years or even decades.
Even in such relationships, Muses live solitary
most of the time.
Government
There is no government at all in Brown
Astar. When it comes to decision making,
their sensitive telempathic minds pick up each
others feelings regarding the matter at hand,
giving them a kind of direct democracy that
isn’t found anywhere else on Talislanta.
The Arts
In Brown Astar, the Muses are very
artistically inclined. As an escape for their
thoughts, feelings, and passions, they create
intricate paintings all over the grotto walls
painted in the glowjuice they trade with the
earthwhisps. These paintings always present
very strong images and can’t be looked at
without feeling the emotions put into it.
Glowpaintings are temporary in nature and
fade away in the course of a month. Brown
Astar is a silent place where no music is made.
Muses sometimes dance to a silent tune in
their head, triggered by a memory from their
youth.
THE SUBTERRANOIDS
Subterranoids are massive bipeds who
mostly dwell far below the caverns of Durne,
but are known to travel the Underground
Highway throughout the entire continent of
Talislanta. They have a rocklike exoskeleton
with crude features, brown, grey or black in
colour. They grow sharp spikes on all major
joints, which are the largest at the shoulders.
Subterranoids dress in leather loincloths.
Subterranoid parties encountered away from
their homes are almost always armed with
swords and shields of an unbreakable black
metal of unknown composition. Subterranoids
are immune to heat and flame. They can see in
total darkness, but are very sensitive to bright
lights. The exoskeleton of dead subterranoids
locks into place and transforms to solid rock.
The creature inside quickly dries out and the
exoskeleton crumbles to dust within a year for
lack of maintenance.
Ancestry
Little is known for sure of the
subterranoids. They don’t occur in any stories
from before the Great Disaster, suggesting that
they came to Talislanta some six hundred
years ago. They may have arrived through a
rift in the Omniverse or they could have been
created by wild magic surges deep in the earth.
Some scholars claim they are a magical hybrid
of Satada and rock demon. Others are of the
opinion that they are earth elementals warped
by fighting the Stain in the Green World and
no longer able to live there.
Society
Subterranoid clans reside in the deepest
underground caverns and tunnels, where
creatures from the surface don’t survive long
for lack of fresh air. They live on a diet of
fungi, moulds, insects, animals and have a
limited ability to digest raw minerals.
Subterranoids live in clans of exactly 33
members, and always operate in teams of
three, called triads. Triads have specific
responsibilities within the clan. Clans are
independent and ignore each other most of the
time. All communications between clans are
done by specific triads. Subterranoids only
reproduce when their number is reduced. All
members of a clan can be male or female as
needed, but they can be only gender at a time.
It takes a subterranoid three months to change
sex. Infant subterranoids are born as
gelatinous creatures. Their slimy skin is
covered with pebbles and stone splinters; this
slowly hardens out as a provisional
exoskeleton. When they can feed themselves,
young subterranoids are locked in a cave,
where they feed on minerals only. After one
year, they are strong enough to break out of
the cave. Fully grown, they are then ready to
take their place in a triad.
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Customs
Able to navigate underground by some
innate sense, subterranoids can turn up
anywhere. Although they seem to prefer
existing tunnels, subterranoids are skilled
miners in solid rock. Their heavy weight and
lack of subtle movements makes it difficult for
them to move through softer soil types.
Subterranoids won’t easily go into muddy
terrain for risk of getting stuck. Tales of their
nature allowing them to move through solid
rock probably came to life because someone
saw a subterranoid eat rock, but they are not
true. Raw minerals and metals are essential
nutrients to subterranoids, and they eat small
pieces of rock and ore to supplement their diet.
The triad responsible for forging weapons mix
digested minerals with the metal of the blades
on which they work.
Government
One triad of each clan acts as the absolute
leaders of that clan. All triad members are
responsible for each other’s acts. Only acts
that endanger the clan are considered crimes
and are punished by expulsion of the triad
from the clan. If the triad of leaders have
endangered the clan, they are killed and
another triad takes their place. Young
subterranoids then fill up the ranks until the
clan counts 33 members again. Banned triads
go insane and become feared killers.
Magic and Religion
At least one triad of each clan is capable
of magic, usually geomancy. One of the
magic-capable triads is responsible for the
rituals of worship of an entity that may be an
arch-demon or true elemental. Alchemists
assume that some kind of magic is involved in
the creation of the subterranoids' unbreakable
equipment.
The Arts
Subterranoids are not known for
appreciating art. Other races see an artistic
value in their mysteriously etched swords. For
their excellent quality, however, these rare
blades most often end up in the hands of
warriors rather than those of art collectors and
antiquarians.
Language
While able to speak the Elder tongue,
subterranoids usually communicate in Sign
and a kind of sound code in which they use
their shields as a gong; the echoes of the
ringing carry much farther in the tunnels than
would a voice.
Defences
Subterranoids are masters at underground
combat. Deploying a combination of combat
tactics and traps they are deadly opponents
underground. Above, they suffer from the
light. Triads use special tactics that combine
maximum defence of each other and rapid
coordinated attacks to break the enemy’s
guard.
Commerce
Subterranoids are completely self-
sufficient and do not trade with other clans or
races. The Arimites maintain a minimum of
contact with subterranoids, and some claim to
have bartered with them.
World View
Subterranoid clans are entirely
independent. They defend if attacked and raid
for things their clan needs. They may or may
not maintain relations with inhabitants of the
Green World or the Demon Realm.
THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY
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THE WESTERN
WATERWAYS
Water, water, and more water… Bah, give me
solid rock anytime.
Unknown Gnomekin engineer
Except for Arim and Khazad, the Western
Lands are largely made up of rich, humid soil
on top of thick layers of marl, limestone, clay,
sandstone and other soft materials. One has to
go quite deep to reach hard rock. As a
consequence, water stayed in the upper layers
and carved out a vast subterranean network of
rivers, lakes and grottos there. Emmo Ebono
made good use of them during his mapping
expeditions and travelled many a mile
underground by canarge in company of his
Fan-Ra-San guide.
THE DEAD LAGOON
Coming down from the Sardonyx
Mountains one arm of the Sascasm river
simply ends in the Green Lagoon. According
to an old Dhuna legend, this part of the
Sascasm does not actually terminate there. In
forgotten days, they say, it was called the
Dead Lagoon, a sump that forced the river to
go underground, its hidden tributaries going
on for many miles. The Dhuna bury their
dead, because of revelations saying that the
ancient practice of sending the dead away on
the river to the Dead Lagoon is not permitted
to them. While most scholars denounce the
Dhuna tale as pure nonsense, it holds true in
the core. In later ages, without the care of the
disappeared civilisation, the opening into to
underground realm got partially blocked by
debris and the Green Lagoon was formed
above. Being fed by the Sascasm river, the
drain still exists at the bottom of the Green
Lagoon, and is the source of a waterfall into a
cistern that is the ancient Dead Lagoon. The
water falls down from the ceiling into the clear
water of a lake in the centre of a grotto that
has been carved out from the dark brown rock.
The lake is large but shallow, nowhere
more than knee-deep. Whether it is the
echoing sound of the waterfall in the otherwise
silent lagoon, or some other unfathomable
thing, a faint feeling of ancient power lingers
here. No life exists in these waters and
although the water of the Sascasm river is
drinkable and the lake is crystal clear, the
atmosphere of this place doesn’t quite invite
its consumption, almost as if it were holy
water. If legend is true, this lake works as a
power source for revealing and defensive
magic as long as the water keeps flowing.
Whatever ancient powers are unleashed if ever
the flow of the water would dry up is anyone’s
guess.
A narrow corridor guides a fast stream of
excess water to another waterfall into a lake in
the next cave. The grotto that is entirely filled
with the deep waters of this second lake is
very uneven. Light sources reflecting on
stalactites, rocks in the water, and other
structures in the cave walls cause many
shadows that make it difficult to see where
exits might be. As this lake is one of the major
water sources to the rest of the Western
Waterways, there are many streams out of this
place. Only few are large enough all the way
through to be used for travel. Some exits carry
invisible markings over them that can be
revealed by magic, though the meaning of
these has been forgotten. Most of the marked
exits can be used to reach other places. If the
currents in the water are studied with care, it
will become obvious that one other river,
coming from the north, contributes to this lake
instead of flowing away from it.
FORGOTTEN SHRINES
From the east side of the second lake in
the Dead Lagoon, several deep but narrow
streams wind into the dark soil of Witchwood.
The narrow passages with low ceilings and
sharp bends only allow the smallest of vessels
THE LOST BOOKS OF TALISLANTA
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to pass. The dark, brittle and damp soil
through which these streams run, gives an
oppressive feeling and are no place for
claustrophobes. Falling overboard is not a
good idea here, for the muddy walls provide
nothing in the way of footholds, and burying
the point of a boat in them risks not being able
to get it loose again. The water is surprisingly
cold, and grows colder as the streams get
deeper into Witchwood soil, but it never
freezes. Sound doesn’t carry far down here.
These shallow waters split many times and
other streams join without any signs of where
they might be heading. Towards the centre of
Witchwood, there is no longer any current in
the streams and the oppressive feeling
becomes more intense. It’s a feeling like being
in a room with increased atmospheric pressure
without ventilation and someone invisible is
staring at you. Staying in this area for more
than a few hours is enough to raise the hairs in
anyone’s neck. After several days, paranoia
becomes a very real and overwhelming
emotion.
Continuing upstream, eventually the water
becomes shallower and dries up. A muddy
path leads upward and becomes hard sand and
finally solid rock. These paths all end at a
circular room, one of a number throughout
Witchwood. Large obelisk-like stones are set
in the wall and are carved with strange
symbols and glyphs. Each of these rooms lies
directly below one of the stone circles in
Witchwood and holds the same ancient magic.
It is conceivable that the magic involved in a
summoning ritual above resonates in this
room, increasing the power of the ritual. This
would explain the power of the Dhuna to
wield such ancient magic to create their
witchgates. Another theory is that these rooms
become the actual portal that brings the
summoned entities into the world before they
are gated to the world above. It is better not to
think about what would happen if a ritual
backfired and a being from whatever
dimension the Dhuna were communing with
broke free and began roaming these tunnels.
Otherwise, these forgotten shrines are perfect
places to study ancient magic, as the glyphs
 Forgotten Shrine
Beneath the
Witchwood

THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY

2 - 29
and runes on the stones here are not as faded
as above. These shrines are particularly
sensitive to summoning magic and any
summoning spell cast here benefits from a +5
bonus.
FAN SEA
A single large river coming from the north
is the only other source that contributes to the
second lake of the Dead Lagoon. This slow,
wide river, coursing through a large tunnel,
can easily be travelled by small boats. The
water of this river is clouded with sand, but it
brings a fresh air, as after a spring rain. Away
from the Dead Lagoon, the walls of the tunnel
grow ever thicker layers of moss, that remains
white instead of green for lack of sunlight. The
moss first grows at the water level, but upriver
it quickly covers the entire tunnel.
Occasionally a kelplilly floats by, white
flowers floating on circular beds of tangled
weed up to three feet across. In bloom, they
give off a very strong scent into the water, that
lingers in the bed of kelp and attracts fish
going from flower to flower, promoting the
reproduction of these plants. This water makes
a very exotic perfume and brings a decent sum
of money in some markets. These waters are
also rich in fish, and starvation should not be a
problem with a fishing rod, net or trident at
hand. Cooking, of course, is a different matter
without any land about that is large enough to
build a fire on, even if dry fuel were available.
For miles, this river goes in a north or
northeast direction. Gradually, stalagmites and
stalactites begin to appear and over several
miles become more frequent, making
manoeuvring a vessel more awkward and
hazardous, as the murky water hides sharp
peaks just below the water level that are quite
capable of piercing the hull of a small
fisherman’s boat and unpredictable undertows
can make such accidents happen. Beyond this
long and hazardous barrier, the river is easy to
travel for several miles again, until it opens up
in a huge underground sea, right below the
Mushroom Forest.
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The sight of this sea is spectacular and no
one enters without spending a moment to take
in the scene. In the darkness of the dome,
thousands of lights twinkle brightly up above,
like stars in a moonless night sky. A
permanent light drizzle falls from the sky,
causing an amazing visual phenomenon. As
the light from the “stars” breaks in the
droplets, bands of rainbow colours float
through the dark sky like pole light.
Occasionally, larger drops shoot through these
multicoloured curtains as flashes of a single
bright colour. The light is bright enough to see
by and to illuminate the mother-of-pearl city
that lies in the centre of this sea, Aqiniss,
home of an aquatic race called the
Fan-Ra-San.
THE FAN-RA-SAN
The Fan-Ra-San are an offshoot of the
Sun-Ra-San of the Eastern Lands. They are an
aquatic race, though they are capable of
spending up to six hours out of the water
without problems. While the Sun-Ra-San kept
to the open seas, the Fan-Ra-San clans also
hunted in lagoons, up rivers and in lakes.
Smaller and more slender built than their
cousins, the Fan-Ra-San share the silver-
scaled skin and deep-blue eyes. They have
gills below their cheeks and their arm pits, a
fin-like protrusion along their spine and their
webbed toes stand very far apart for maximum
propulsion in the water. Most Fan-Ra-San are
clothed only in loincloths with decorations
made of shell and water plants. Guards wear
armour made of overlapping hard shells. Its
mother-of-pearl finish is beautiful and difficult
to target in the heat of a battle.
Ancestry
The Fan-Ra-San share the same racial
history as their Sun-Ra-Sun kin. They fled the
Eastern Lands along with the Sun-Ra-San, but
stuck to coastal areas and ventured up rivers
and lakes as well instead of the open sea.
When the Great Disaster struck, they found
themselves trapped in a system of
underground lakes and no longer able to stay
out of the water for long periods of time. They
literally became a lost race for centuries and
made their home in the underground confines
of Fan Sea. From here, they explored most of
the Western Waterways, but kept to
themselves when they saw other races.
Society
The Fan-Ra-San built the city of shells,
Aqiniss, from the shells of a species of large
shellfish that lives at the bottom of Fan Sea.
Both the inside and exterior of these tough
shells are covered in mother-of-pearl that
gives them their multicoloured, shiny
appearance. Homes are mostly underwater, but
a friendly competition in decorating a house
with beautiful spires above the water level has
created a marvellous construction in the light
of the artificial stars overhead. The extended
family is the core of the Fan-Ra-San society.
Couples mate for life and afterlife in a
ceremony called the “merging of souls”.
Children are raised by the parents and
grandparents, and training in Fan-Ra-San
culture and aquaculture begins at age two.
Customs
Like their kin, the Fan-Ra-San have a
great love of learning, and they treasure their
history and culture. Children learn to read and
write the ancient Sun-Ra-San script and
rehearse the stories of their people until they
know them by heart. Records of pedigrees and
important events are kept by family elders
etched in parchment scrolls made of the cured
scales of certain types of fish. The Fan-Ra-San
have accepted the separation from their kin
and adapted to their new home. The Western
Waterways are their domain and they take
pride in collecting as much knowledge about it
as possible. The coming of age rituals of the
Fan-Ra-San involve taking part in a discovery
expedition into unknown parts of the Western
Waterways. The Fan-Ra-San developed an
intricate way of mapping waterways growing
a three dimensional miniature map in coral. A
form of aquatic botanomancy called
aquaculture is taught to any child who proves
to have a talent for it.
THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY
2 - 31
Government
By ancient tradition, the Fan-Ra-San are a
democratic people. Their leader, called
“Eminence”, is elected by popular vote. This
individual is assisted in all matters by a
council of eleven elected advisors, called the
Council. The Council may overrule the
Eminence with a two-third majority. The
Council also acts as the Fan-Ra-San’s
judicial system.
Magic and Religion
The Fan-Ra-San have specialized in a
form of aquaculture that is similar to
botanomancy, but uses fish, shellfish and
water plants instead of plants that require soil
to grow; aquaculturists have abilities similar to
Botanomancers, but with aquatic species. One
of the hybrids the Fan-Ra-San bred is the aqus,
a four-legged aquatic creature favoured by
Fan-Ra-San guards as mounts (see Chapter 5
for more information). Mount and rider can
move swiftly underwater without causing
much rippling at the surface of the water and
are very agile in aquatic combat.
Following their transformation during the
Great Disaster, the Fan-Ra-San felt that their
ancestral god Aqus abandoned them and a
long religious crisis followed. Unwilling to
forget their god completely, they named their
city after him, Aqinnis, in memory of Aqus.
The lack of moonfish in their new
environment meant that the spirits of the dead
had to go elsewhere. Eventually, they took up
worship of a fresh-water deity named Seol, to
whom they built a shrine near the Dead
Lagoon. They moved the shrine into a temple
in Aqinnis. The Fan-Ra-San believe that their
dead rise up and join the spirits of the ancient
worshippers of Seol as sparkling lights on the
dome over Fan Sea. The bodies of the dead are
put in coffins made from shells and sunk to the
bottom of Fan Sea.
Fan-Ra-San feel that tending to the god is
a shared responsibility, but requires full-time
attention. Being a practical people, any adult
can become a priest by taking a simple vow.
Priests can leave their position again by
another simple ceremony, but may join the
priesthood again whenever they wish. Social
responsibility makes sure that there are always
several priests attending the temple.
The Arts
The Fan-Ra-San are skilled in the
processing of shells, fish scales, plant material,
and coral into pieces of art as well as useful
items. They take great pride in crafting
beautiful spires on the tops of their homes,
making Aqinnis into the wondrous city that it
is.
Like their kin race, Fan-Ra-San song is
often haunting and sorrowful. The “Lament
for a Lost Race” is one of their most intense
songs. Fan-Ra-San sing exclusively
underwater, in the same way as the Sun-Ra-
San, considering it vulgar to hear their songs
performed in air.
Language
The Fan-Ra-San speak the ancestral
tongue they share with the Sun-Ra-San and the
Sunra, called Sun-Ra-Sa. Over the centuries,
the Fan-Ra-San picked up a smidgen of other
languages from parties adventuring in the
Western Waterways. Common names are
hyphenated; male names begin with “Fu”,
while female names begin with “Fa”. The
second syllable always begins with an “R”, as
in Fum-Ras, Fug-Rin, Fun-Ra (male), or Far-
Ris, Fan-Ros, Fam-Rif (female).
Defences
Having faced few threats, the Fan-Ra-San
maintain only a minimal army. The Water
Guard has a permanent underwater station at
the barrier downriver to the Dead Lagoon.
Other, well-hidden outposts exist throughout
the Western Waterways, but are used only
when needed. All soldiers are trained in
aquatic combat and are skilled riders of aqus
mounts. Underwater surprise attacks are a
commonly used tactic to quickly deal with
invaders. Aqinnis city defences include
harpoon-throwers.
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Commerce
The various Fan-Ra-San families in
Aqinnis and surrounding area trade among
each other, using coins made of blue coral as
currency. Blue coral is the only type that
occurs naturally in the Fan Sea, and only
sparsely at that. Coins are crafted exclusively
by the priests on orders of the Council. Fan-
Ra-San keep their existence hidden from other
races, but are known to barter with individuals
or small parties encountered in the Western
Waterways in disguise.
World View
In time, the Fan-Ra-San discovered
passages that would lead them to the ocean
again. However, adapted to fresh water now,
and under the influence of a new god, they
decided to remain secluded in the Fan Sea.
They see the entire Western Waterways as
their domain, to be respected by anyone who
travels there. From the waters of the Sascasm
river, the Fan-Ra-San secretly observe other
races, but more from a curiosity to learn than a
desire to establish relations with them.
THE THREE SISTERS
West of the Dead Lagoon lies a strange
formation of smooth blue rock, called the
Crying Eyes. From two large openings water
falls down into another lake, named the Lake
of Tears. This big, deep lake is the home of a
deceptively violent species of aquatic
predators, called tearfish (see Chapter 5 for
more information). These slender and gracious
silver and purple striped fish with large wavy
fins and tails possess a strong flexible set of
jaws set with a razor-sharp row of needles for
teeth that penetrate and rend leather with ease.
Tearfish are hunters that innocently approach
their prey, showing off as beautiful and
playful animals. Then the group of tearfish
attack the victim suddenly. The surface of the
lake looks like it is boiling as the creatures
fight to get their share of food.
Tearfish are named well, for not only do
they tear apart their victims up into small
enough pieces to eat, but also because they
process indigestible bits into a dark red goo
that they excrete from an opening just behind
their eyes, as if they were shedding tears. As a
consequence, the water is slightly salty and
has a reddish hue. Fan-Ra-San tales claim that
these fish feed on the dead of an ancient
civilisation, and that the bottom of the lake is a
treasure store. In fact, tearfish only live on
fresh meat and refuse to eat carrion. Whatever
is to be found in the depths of the lake was left
by those unaware of its dangerous inhabitants.
Encounters in
the Western Waterways
Use this table for encounter ideas or
roll 2d20 to select a random encounter.
Subtract 5 for northern and eastern
encounters (Fan Sea and Witchwood).
Add 5 for western encounters (Lake of
Tears and the Three Sisters).

The Lake of Tears feeds three large Roll Encounter

underground rivers, called the Three Sisters. up to 1
Fan-Ra-San aquaculturist
According to a Phaedran legend, three 2 Fan-Ra-San fisherman
divine—or more probably divine-looking— 3-4 Fan-Ra-San Water Guards
sisters tried to persuade a handsome hero from 5 Kelplillies
the north to marry one of them. At the moment 6 Scavenger slime
the hero would have made his decision, a giant 7 Strange glyph or runestone
came along and bashed him on the head with 8 Coven of Dhuna witches
his giant club so hard that only his blue 9 Wandering Sarista magician
skinned head remained above the ground. The 10 Summoned entity, roll again:
three sisters sat down in shock and wept. They 1-4 fiend
shed tears until they were all dried out and 5-8 figment
died, but by then these three rivers 9-12 ghast
had formed. 13-16 night demon
17-20 water demon
The most northern river is the 11 School of angorn
underground twin of the Weeping river, 12 Plant demon
running its exact course underground. The 13 Adventuring scholar
Northern Sister, the youngest, was the golden 14 Gang of neuromorphs
one. Her tears mixed with the water and gave 15 Skalanx
the soil its yellow colour. The river easily 16 Safe mooring
carved a way through the soft sandstone, 17 River kra
bending this way and that to circumvent 18 Triad of Subterranoids
blocks of granite and other hard stone. Like 19-20 Rough current or rapids
the Weeping river, it is a narrow, fast river that 21 Arimite mining crew
can be travelled by small boats that are easily 22-23 Tranquil lagoon
handled. As it progresses, the river dives 24 Scarlet sporozoids
deeper and becomes wilder. There are no 25 Darkling spy
banks and a trip on this river must be travelled 26 Sudden waterfall
to its end in one go. Deep beneath the source 27 Arimite trader
of the Weeping river lies the death spiral of 28 Reclusive Gnorl
the Golden Sister, a small lake that is one 29 Rag-tag band of treasure hunters
violent vortex draining the water to places 30-31 Remains of lost expedition
unknown. At the side of the lake is an artificial 32 Weirdling
pier where boats can be moored. At the end of 33 Mandragores
the pier, a long spiral staircase was cut out in 34 Ghost ship from Khazad
the rock, by people long forgotten, and leads 35+ School of tearfish

THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY

2 - 33
all the way up to the top of a small hill, deep
in the forest.
The Middle Sister was the black one. Her
tears, mixed with strong anger, went in a
straight line west into the soil of the
Werewood, turning the earth black. Where the
anger lost its strength, near the Valley of
Forgetfulness, the river suddenly splits into
many smaller streams, most of which
eventually spill their water into the Necros
river. A few streams steer away from the
Valley of Forgetfulness into the grounds
below the Dread Forest. These streams take on
the black colour of the rock they run through.
By slowly dissolving this stone, or maybe fed
by vengeful feelings of the Black Sister, the
waters turn acidic and carve an ever deeper

Death Spiral of
the Golden Sister

THE LOST BOOKS OF TALISLANTA

2 - 34
path into the rock. Any vessel or organism that
stays in those waters for any length of time
slowly gets eaten away. Only on well-lit
nights, the Sarista dare to relate a legend that
tells about dark ghosts from Khazad sailing
their vessels of black mist on the Necros river.
As ghosts can’t cross the open sea, it is
speculated that there might exist a passage
below the ocean floor into Khazad. If this is
true, the Black Sister would certainly be
a candidate.
The Southern Sister, the oldest, was the
silver one. With a calm sadness, her tears
streamed south through Gnorlwood soil,
where they turned west into Silvanus. Her
tears give the ground its silvery grey colour
and her strong will and big heart made this the
largest of the three rivers finding its way
through the hardest of rock. Calmly, the Silver
Sister follows a low-roofed, smooth tunnel
into Silvanus without any place to stop or
choose between different paths to follow.
There the river ends in a hidden pool deep in
the forest. The Sarista know this pool as a
place of serenity and revelation, where the
reflection of the moons tell about things to
come, where the best water is found to make
potions, and where Death won’t come until
Time forces it to visit there.
THE ONYX MINES
South from the Dead Lagoon there is very
narrow tunnel, just wide enough to crawl
through. It’s recognisable by black and white
lines of a very sharp grained sand on the
bottom of the trickle that runs through it. This
sand is ground onyx and the tunnel is a
backbreaking passage into the mountain range
carrying that mineral’s name. The only reason
for taking this torturous road is because it’s
the only known underground road into Arim
from the north. It’s a bad mining area, so there
never are many people around. Unfortunately,
this region of the Onyx mountains is instead a
favourite area of subterranoids, who for some
reason are attracted to these mineral-rich
rocks, even though they don’t seem to use
much of the ore themselves. They have,
however, dug many tunnels through these
THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY
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mountains over the centuries and it’s not
uncommon to encounter a triad or two on their
way to unknown destinies.
On the Arim side, the mountains are rich
with mines set up by the Arimites. The higher
mountains bordering Gnorlwood are a rich
source of garnets, sards, and silver. The latter
is mined under strict control of the Exarch’s
soldiers as it is used to mint Arim’s own
currency. The hills near Iswan and Shattra are
the most important source of black iron in the
Western Lands. The high peaks north of Lake
Venda hold a few veins of emeralds,
carnelians and beryls. Mines can be found
scattered all through the Onyx mountains,
operated by humourless Arimite mining
crews, who are all too eager to break the daily
routine to deal with a couple of intruders, who
are no doubt after their valuable ores or spying
for the Ur clans. The Arimite crews are
probably the most experienced with the
customs of the subterranoids, as they share the
underground realm beneath the Onyx
Mountains. Arimite miners make use of
tunnels abandoned by the subterranoids, and
there even exists basic forms of
communication and barter between the two
races. The Arimites have thus become very
familiar with the Underground Highway
within their territories, and can quickly move
from one part of the country to another faster
than would be possible overland. This
knowledge is also one of the reasons that their
mining operations are among the most
profitable in all Talislanta, yet it makes them a
target for scholars and adventurers who wish
to learn more about the subterranoids, a fact
which the surly Arimites do not enjoy. As a
consequence, more than one overconfident
and nosy visitor has found himself the target
of a contract with the Revenant Cult.
There is one section of the Onyx
Mountains that contains merely one
subterranean passage, and that one leads to the
Cliffs of Bahahd and the road to the Forbidden
City of Ahrazad. This passage runs fairly high
through the cliff side and frequently opens up
to caves that overlook the canyon below. The
caves in the Cliffs of Bahahd are the well-
known location to go searching for
moonstones of immense size and impeccable
colour. The popularity of these sites with
adventurers and treasure hunters has made it
equally popular for the Stryx as a place of easy
pickings. Every once in a while, the Ur use the
cliff passage to send a small army of darklings
to pester the Arim leader in his hidden palace
and test the strength of the capital’s defences.
Some people say that it is only a matter of
time until the Ur will muster an army that is
big enough to conquer the city and wipe out
the Arimite’s government, with the rest of the
country to be following the same fate
soon after.
SPY'S FATE
Unknown to almost all Aamanians and
Zandir is the fact that from the most western
edge of the Onyx Mountains, a very small
tunnel runs below Zandu, crossing the Great
Barrier Wall at a depth of thirty feet, through
Aamanian soil. The tunnel splits up in a delta
of tunnels that connect to the Axis river, some
30 miles north of Vashay. This tunnel was
incidentally discovered by a Zandir thief
hiding from the Aamanian inquisition in the
well of an abandoned farm a little outside
Aamahd. Ever since, this tunnel has become
the domain of certain criminal elements from
both Aamanian and Zandir societies, who run
an expensive smuggling operation here. On
both sides of the Great Barrier Wall several
secret and well-guarded exits to the surface
exist. From official sides, the existence of this
tunnel and its current function are
categorically denied, but knowledge of it in
government circles would go a long way to
explaining how both countries can maintain
such a high level of intelligence on each other
without spies ever being caught at the gate
through the Great Barrier Wall. This route is
also used as an escape for Aamanian heretics
or to circumvent the diplomatic isolation of
Aaman by the Seven Kingdoms. The many
open connections with the Axis river
combined with its small capacity make it a
very unreliable route that can flood in mere
minutes when heavy rainfall raises the water
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Amerdeiro's Journal
I had the White Lilly’s crew drop
the anchor well out of reach of those
cursed stone faces. Instead of risking my
precious vessel, I selected the best six
hands of the crew, boarded the sloop,
and left the Lilly in the capable hands of
the first mate. Thinking back, half our
luck must already have been spent on
having calm waters, where the currents
usually drag a vessel wherever they
please. Perhaps best that we didn’t know
how.
Between two nasty sharp teeth we
sailed into the mouth of one of the stone
demons that mark the cliffs. Along with
the darkness, the abrupt silence
surprised us. While outside, the cries of
the Wailing Mountain had sent shivers
along our spines, but the oppressive
silence made those big men a little
smaller. Unable to see much in the light
of the lanterns, the sloop repeatedly hit
the rocks, as if the demon was saying
nicely that it didn’t want us there, yet in
our pride we went on. After the first turn
we lost what little daylight we had.
That’s when the foul wind rose up from
the demon’s throat to sicken all of us.
But we went on with empty stomachs, as
our employers promised to pay very
well indeed if we would return with any
artefacts of an extinct tribe he called the
Thane.
Past the next bend, the whispering
started. Too faint to distinguish the
words, the tone of cursing chants could
not be misunderstood. Not a dozen
heartbeats later, a sharp rock penetrated
the hull of the sloop and two of the crew
pulled in their oars to make repairs and
scoop the water out of the boat. The
whispering chants continued.
(continued)
level in the Axis river. Less ethically inclined
minds might conceive this as a suitable way to
get rid of unwanted elements. The western
branch of the Underground Highway of the
Seven Kingdoms must pass below the Axis
river close to the point where Spy’s Fate
surfaces. If an entrance into those tunnels
exists, then those who know of it can keep
secrets very well. Besides, there are other
ways to cross the Axis.
THE CLIFFS OF KHAZAD
Although virtually impossible to reach, the
giant diabolical visages that are carved in the
sides of the Cliffs of Khazad, have openings
for mouths that lead into the interior of the
Khazad peninsula. Few captains dare to
challenge fate and sail the dangerous currents
and sharp rocks surrounding these cliffs. Even
fewer tried and survived. And those who did
never bragged about it, and that is usually not
a good sign for prospective adventurers. The
story of Amerdeiro, captain of the White Lilly,
is one of the rare tales about these caves (see
sidebar).
THE DARK TONGUE
The Badlands are sparsely-wooded
steppes, not suited for any kind of
underground travel. From the coast to the
Sardonyx Mountains, a black iron path crosses
the Badlands. This mysterious phenomenon
disappears into a huge cave in the foothills of
the Sardonyx Mountains. This site is scattered
with bones of various species. If not home to
the Wildmen of Yrmania, creatures like the
yaksha, tundra beast, or muskront may have
taken shelter here. As often in the wild lands,
the transition of ownership of a lair is not
always a peaceful event. Besides the common
residents from the Badlands, this place sees
frequent visits from Satada hunting parties,
where the Satada seem to avoid the rest of the
Badlands. This has lead to the suspicion that
this cave might conceal the entrance to a
tunnel complex that is connected to realms
where the Satada feel more at home. The
occasional presence of night demons suggests
that these tunnels might also be connected to
THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY
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Amerdeiro's Journal
(continued)
In the light of the lanterns our
shadows seemed possessed of a life of
their own, a life that didn’t look like it
had much of a future. Next we knew, it
started to rain. Yes, I know, we were in a
cave! Water ran along the ceiling of the
cave and streamed down from the many
spikes that decorated it. We lost another
man on the oars to help scooping out the
water and keep us afloat, so fast was it
pouring down on us.
When we’d at last passed the rain,
everything went dead silent. Then a low
gurgling started. We felt it before we
heard it and fear overtook each one of us.
The gurgling became louder and more
ominous, as if the demon was trying to
throw up. The rotting stench had drained
most of the strength from our muscles
when finally the tidal wave came. It was
full of the wreckage of ships that sank in
these waters and some not too long ago
because half the bodies in the water were
not the Lilly’s men. Halfway out, the
sloop was smashed to splinters in a bend
and the impact forced the air out of my
lungs. If it wasn’t for the second mate
keeping me above the water, well, I’m
sure the first mate would have recited
some good paradoxes, like he did for the
five men we had lost by the time the
second mate and I reached the safety of
the Lilly again. No matter how much
they will pay, I won’t order the Lilly near
those demons ever again, but I must
admit that new white streak in my hair
worked miracles for my reputation
among the crew and my patrons.
those through Narandu leading to the Black
Pit. The Wildmen never seem to have
bothered to find out.

THE EASTERN
STRETCH
The gnomekin have not charted the
Underground Highway this far east. What
little is known for sure, Emmo Ebono learned
from Vajra engineers.
THE ANCESTRAL HOME OF
THE VAJRA
The Vajra Hivecities
The traditional territories of the Vajra
below the hills bearing their name are nearly
forgotten except by the Vajra themselves. In
the Opal Mountain mines and the catacombs
of the citadel of Karang Vajra songs can be
heard, softly music from their basso voices.
Songs about their ancestral home, recited only
when no guards are nearby. These songs tell
about the Queen’s Chamber with each of its
walls decorated with mosaics made from
precious stones, glowing gold, orange, yellow
and brown in the light of the hearth, about the
Nursery with growing eggs lying in their
incubator beds of delicately sculpted jade,
about the Prayer Hall to Terra, the earth
goddess, a large circular hall with Terra’s
mirror, a floor of plain brown rock polished so
smooth that it reflects a Vajra’s image in the
goddess, about the Corridor of Time spiralling
outward telling the history of the Vajra in its
carved walls from the foundation of the city
onward… until the year 82. Evacuated and
sealed by the Quan, these cities lie now
abandoned, prey to the force of time.
If one would know where to find an
entrance and be able to break the seal, a
wondrous realm would be revealed. A
collection of hive-settlements lie spread
throughout the Vajran Hills, each connected to
the others by long winding tunnels. Vajra
cities are nearly impossible to map as
corridors curve in all three dimensions,
THE LOST BOOKS OF TALISLANTA
2 - 38
seemingly without logic or direct connections
between any two places, which are never built
at the same depth. The low ceilings don’t
allow most races to walk upright. It takes a
Vajra to make sense of these mazes and feel at
home here. Nobody, however, will have a hard
time appreciating the craftsmanship of this
place. Floors and walls are all polished
smooth, highlighting the natural layers and
minerals of the rock they are carved in, doors
turn on their hinges at the touch of a finger,
each room is connected by a intricate system
of water pipes and illuminated by cultivated
globs of phosphorescent fungi suspended from
the ceiling, lighting the room in any of colour
of the rainbow.
Despite its apparent chaotic design, some
sense can be made of it by one who takes the
time to study it. Chambers close to the
entrance are military domain. Barracks, mess
halls, training areas, armouries, smithies and
defensive structures can be found here. It is
easy to misjudge these rooms, as equal
attention has been given to their polished and
decorated walls as anywhere else. Spread out
around the army lie the domains of the
workers. These include dormitories, moss
farms, storage rooms, mineral mines, tool
shops, gem cutting and sculpture studios,
temples, schools, and other locales for the
daily routines of Vajra life. In between the
clusters of soldier and worker domains lies
deep in the earth the royal domain surrounded
by the nurseries, servants quarters and burial
chambers. There is only one such cluster in
each of the Vajra’s cities.
Somewhere deep, deep in the subterranean
realms of their homeland, some say at the very
heart of the world, lies the essence of the
Vajran race. A dark space filled with a lake of
magma so hot that its glowing body is covered
by a black layer of scorched air. This is the
Dark Fire, that burns in the soul of every
Vajra. From opposite sides of the cave, a
narrow ledge of an unknown type of rock,
resistant to the immense heat, leads to the
centre of the Dark Fire, but stop twenty feet
short of each other. This symbolized the
Vajran soul. It is possible to get close to the
heart, but come too close and you risk being
consumed by the Dark Fire. The ledges each
begin at a tunnel that leads back to the city,
although the locations of the upper entrance
are one of the closest guarded secrets of the
Vajra.
According to Vajra legend, their homes
may be left abandoned, but they are not left
undefended for any plunderer lucky enough to
find a way in. The Dark Fire is a living thing
and protective of the home of its caretakers.
Adventurers who claim to have found the
Vajra cities mentioned encounters with what
might be different incarnations of the Dark
Fire. Some talk of lava demons, although these
creatures are commonly too big for the low
corridors. Others tell about a cloud of
superheated air moving through the city. Yet
other tales recall a Vajra spirit with eyes that
shoot rays of magma. Of course, it is quite
possible that these stories are worth no more
than the price of a couple of beers.
HARAKIN RAIDING TUNNELS
Cold and inhospitable, the Opal
Mountains form a natural barrier to protect the
Eastern Lands from the invaders. Of course
they attract their share of adventurers hoping
their luck will lead them to a deposit of
precious blue diamonds, but the cold storms
and frost demons have left few expeditions to
set up a proper dig. Left to their own devices,
such mines collapse quickly enough, leaving
the peaks of the Opal Mountains a prospective
but effectively useless area for those who
prefer to travel underground.
Like any barrier though, the Opal
Mountains too are far from a perfect one.
There are passes that can be taken when not
blocked by snow. The rough waters of the
Strait of Harak have ground many caves in the
sea side of the mountains. Harakin war chiefs
sent out scouts to explore these tunnels and
while many never came back, it turned out that
there is at least one way through the heart of
the mountains into the Quan empire. At the
Quan learned soon enough, this road is large
THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY
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enough to accommodate large war bands
along with their dractyl mounts. How the
Harakin get creatures from the sky through the
dark confined spaces below the mountains is
anyone’s guess. Despite frequent patrols by
Kang trackers, the entrance on the Quan side
of the Opal Mountains has never been
discovered by the Quan.
Information extracted from Harakin
prisoners has revealed—for what little relief it
brings the Quan—that the journey under the
Opal Mountains is a dangerous one. It is easy
to get lost in the tunnel if the connection with
the war caravan is broken. No troops that left
the body of the army have ever been seen
again, as if they were suddenly swallowed by
the dark. Ominous sounds can be heard from
time to time, varying from a distorted rumble
to crushing and screeching, always muffled,
always suggesting that the source of the sound
is closer than the sound itself leads to believe.
Although there are no open attacks on passing
war bands, it seems that no caravan makes it
through the mountains without suffering losses
in troops. People get detached and lost, or a
dractyl panics and kills its handler, or fewer
people depart from a campsite than arrived
without anyone ever noticing where they went.
If the war chiefs are in on the cause of these
disappearances, they never let it be known,
claiming that if a Harakin can’t take care of
himself, that’s his own problem.
THE CITADEL OF KARANG
The Citadel of Karang is the first line of
defence in the Quan empire against Harakin
raids from the Opal Mountains. In addition to
its defensive importance, it is also one of the
biggest slave camps housing Vajra miners.
From the Citadel of Karang, Kang troops
escort gangs of Vajra miners on their weekly
trip to mines in the western side of the Opal
Mountains, to dig up metal ores and precious
minerals for the Quan. At the end of the week,
the Vajra are moved back into the Citadel
of Karang.
At Karang, the Vajra miners live in a
tunnel complex built below the citadel. This
crisscross maze of tunnels and rooms was built
in exactly the same way as a traditional Vajra
city. The Quan who run the citadel never Encounters Beneath
understood the organisation of Vajra society the Volcanic Hills
and didn’t recognise that the old division in
soldiers and workers still exists. To the Quan, Use this table for encounter ideas or
they are all miners. However, should an roll 1d20 to select a random encounter.
occasion for revolt ever arise, the apparently
open corridors of the Vajra camp may prove to Roll Encounter
become a well-defended bastion overnight. 1-2 Sauran war party
Safe in the knowledge of holding the 3-4 Exhaust of hot fumes and smoke
hibernating Vajra young hostage, the Quan 5-6 Field of obsidian shards
pretty much left the Vajra to their own devices 7-8 Hungry drac
when constructing a new home. In a 9 Ambitious pyromancer
continuous effort of passive resistance, the 10 Nesting draconid
Vajra work on these tunnels have never 11 Hidden side chamber
stopped. Unknown to the Quan, they 12 Sudden volcanic eruption
constructed a huge network of tunnels through 13 Unleashed earth demon
much of the northern Quan Empire. Currently, 14 Strange blue crystal boat
connections exist into the Sinking Land, to the 15 Raknid workers
Mazdak Drains at Moon Lake, and further 16 Lavafish
south as far as the Vajra camp at Kangir. 17 Relentless ravenger
Trusting the goddess Terra to watch over their 18 Solitary vasp
ancestral homes until better times arrive, the 19 Vengeful pyrodemon
Vajra never dug tunnels back to their former 20 Bound shedim
homes under the Vajran Hills. It is likely that
the Vajra discovered the entrance to the
Harakin invasion route, but if so, they never
told the Quan. waves of the boiling lava brightly illuminates
this place with shimmering effects not unlike
LAVA LAKE those seen on the ceiling of an indoor pool.
The air above the lake is filled with ominous
Given the hazards on the surface of the dark grey clouds of smoke, as if suggesting
Volcanic Hills, few people consider the that a thunderstorm might break loose
possibility that this area might also be any moment.
traversable below ground level. That is not to
say that this is the safer road, but it certainly At the centre of the lake, invisible from
will be a trip to remember. The Volcanic Hills the edge of the cave, lies the Island of Fate, a
are a dynamic terrain, where sinkholes and large rock of rough obsidian, its surface
craters appear and disappear as eruptions and covered with razor-sharp edges and spikes.
cave-ins occur. Openings into the interior of The island is barren, save for one impressive
these lands are easy to find, but knowledge of construction. Almost as if organically grown
where exactly tunnels are going becomes from the surface, tall stone circle of gnarled
outdated rapidly due to the geologically obsidian monoliths surrounds a stern building
hyperactive character of the area. While of white ivory that has somehow been made
navigation can be difficult, finding your goal resistant to the sulphurous atmosphere in the
isn’t. All tunnels and lava rivers, despite all cave. In the atrium of this building, five pits,
their detours, eventually course to a huge positioned as corners of a pentagram, each
underground lava lake below the centre of the spout a pillar of white-hot flame into the air all
Volcanic Hills. This cavern is a magnificent
sight. The orange-yellow light from the slow

THE LOST BOOKS OF TALISLANTA

2 - 40
the way up to and through the ceiling. These
are the infamous Fire-Pits of Malnangar. It is
in these pits that the cult of black wizards
known as the Torquarans sacrificed almost the
entire Xambrian race in the early Archaen
Age. The Fire-Pits and the Obsidian Circle
originate from the Forgotten Age, but the
building, although thousands of years old, was
created in a more recent period. Void of
figurative decorations, it does not reveal its
history. Knowledge of the ancient symbols
that line the otherwise plain walls is lost to the
world today, but careful study reveals that
they are part of some dark magic, necromantic
or demonic in nature. Given that it was built
around the Fire-Pits of Malnangar, a historian

The Island of Fate and the Fire-Pits of Malnangar

THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY

2 - 41
could easily link it with the first necromancer
king Drax or its master, the shaitan Zahur,
who might have used the magic of this place
in their escape from this dimension and the
wrath of Diabolus.
The underground passages in this area
come in three kinds: tunnels, lava rivers and
chimneys.
Tunnels are made of rock that is either
glassy, hard, and sharp; or porous and brittle.
Due to the omnipresent layers of soot and
dust, not to mention the ever-moving shadows
and glows, it’s often impossible to tell what
kind of rock the environment is made of. The
sharp lavaglass rock is tough on the soles of
any shoes, and it might be wise to bring an
extra pair. A walking stick or staff is another
valuable asset to test the strength of the
ground ahead. Just remember that a wooden
pole won’t last long in this place.
Lava rivers are created after an eruption
has subsided, but around Lava Lake, these
rivers are major thoroughfares of themselves.
Lava rivers flow through odd-shaped tunnels
without walkways at the sides. Without a
proper (and usually magical) means of
transport, these boiling rivers cannot be
travelled safely. The Orogovians around their
campfire tell tales of blue crystal boats that
hover above the lava on a cushion of
vaporising essential ice. Other stories involve
big lavafish willing to carry travellers on their
back for a reward. There is even a legend of a
demonic entity commanded by its master to
provide ferry services. If this is true, this
creature was most likely a shedim in service of
the shaitan Zahur, and if it still exists and
serves this task, then its master must be alive
too, somewhere in the Omniverse.
Chimneys are vertical shafts through the
rock, created by eruptions. These shafts
exhaust the hot fumes and smoke that
permeates this realm. Although they form
quick routes between tunnels at different
levels in the underground realm, the choking
THE LOST BOOKS OF TALISLANTA
2 - 42
and steaming hot air makes a climb or descent
all but impossible.
SASSAN'S MANSION
Contrary to the legend of Phaedran times,
Sassan the unstable fire-mage survived his
appointment as emissary to the Volcanic Hills,
though barely. Roughed up by the Saurans and
toyed with by pyrodemons, Sassan eventually
came to command the respect of the
inhabitants of the Volcanic Hills. The Saurans
say that he could command Dragon Rock to
erupt at his will, although this seems an
exaggeration even for a master wizard of the
Phaedran Age. Several tales make mention of
a fire wizard living in the crater of
Dragonrock, so it is likely there is some truth
in the matter. After Sassan’s eventual demise,
the stabilizing spells around his mansion
weakened and it sank into the depths of the
volcano, where it presumably still lies hidden
in a protective magic shell. It is conceivable
that it might be found if someone were mad
enough to organise an expedition north from
Lava Lake.
THE SAURAN CONNECTION
As one of the few people to maintain
friendly relations with the Saurans, the
Orogovians learned of an underground
passage between the Sauran settlements of
Sathra and Sathir. The Saurans themselves
don’t use it for other purposes than storage,
but they allow the Orogovians to use it to
travel quickly between the towns. The Saurans
consider the tunnel useless, because it doesn’t
allow room for fighting battles and hiding is
for cowards. Only when waging an open war
with the Kang, a branch from the tunnel
through the mountains in the east is used to
supply the Sauran armies.
THE MAZDAK CASCADE
In the ancestral lands of the Mazdak tribes
in the mountains bearing their name, caves
were found with primitive drawings made by
this people. Although the peninsula of the
Mazdak Mountains consist of a soft, porous
rock, the Mazdak never extended their
territory below the surface of Talislanta. The
rain, however, did. Erosion created a three
dimensional spider web of tiny drain holes,
converging through ever bigger drains
collecting the water, and eventually reaching
several caverns deep in the heart of the
mountains where all the water comes together
in a cascade of bigger and smaller lakes deep
below the hills. It doesn’t require skilled
miners to dig away the top layers of rock to
reach man-sized drains that lead down to the
Mazdak Cascade. These lakes are the breeding
grounds of the moonfish, creatures that the
Sunra believe may be the reincarnations of
their dead. Moonfish communicate by singing.
Theirs songs are picked up by other sentient
beings telepathically. Above, moonfish only
sing at night, but in the everlasting darkness of
the Mazdak Cascade, they sing all the time.
Their complex melodies form strange
harmonics that reverberate on the cave walls,
the echoes fitting in with their song as
consonant undertones.
While the waters of the Mazdak Cascade
are easy enough to travel with any kind of
vessel or even by swimming, for those who
know how, the telepathic song and echoes
penetrating the mind from all sides are enough
to drive people mad. Dual-encephalons suffer
from this effect twice as fast as normal people.
The madness lasts for as long as the song is
heard. Those who have suffered from it say
that the song drives the spirit out of the body
and keeps it suspended above it. The
enlightened soul understands the song of the
moonfish, which, apart from their basic animal
urges, is about travelling among the stars
where other races that once visited Talislanta
still live. The vastness of the empty space
between the stars reflects aspects of the terror
of the Void and would be enough to cause
insanity if not for the light of the stars and
balm of song tying the soul to this world.
Victims of the moonfish song are vacant hulls.
The body is awake and responds to basic
stimuli and commands, but lacks the will to
act on its own accord. Once returned in their
body, victims are faint from the alien visions
and require some rest to get themselves
THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY
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together again. The visions are too
incomprehensible for normal minds to grasp
and will be forgotten quickly. However,
whenever a moonfish song is heard again,
even on the surface of Talislanta, the victim is
struck by terror of a dark void waiting out
there to for a chance to visit Talislanta again.
It’s an effective defence of the species’
ecological niche.
From the Mazdak Cascade, a mineral-rich
river leaves the Mazdak Mountains
underground in a north-western direction.
Beyond the foothills of the Mazdak
Mountains, the river runs through the southern
tip of the Vajran Hills, turning west through
the earth of the Cerulean Forest to surface as a
tributary to Moon Lake, where it ends.
GUERRILLA ROCKS
Torture of Mondre Khan captives revealed
that the Khan Mountains and the Ku-Chang
Plateau contain underground passages that the
Mondre Khan use. Much to the Quan’s
frustration, scouting parties aimed at finding
these passages never discover more than
shallow caves and natural hollows too narrow
to travel through. The Mondre Kahn are
known to lack any magical aptitude, yet they
are able to suddenly disappear without a trace,
at least in their own territories and on the Ku-
Chang plateau. The only logical conclusion is
the existence of a system of tunnels that for
some reason has eluded the Quan. This has
become a sensitive point at the imperial court
in Tian, as the Quan suffer the same inability
to find the underground passages through the
Opal Mountains used by the Harakin.
The secret of the Mondre Khan is a
strange natural phenomenon they call spindle
holes. The rough rock of the east coast is solid
and hard, but because of its inflexibility it
tends to crack easily with temperature
changes. This can cause great lumps of rock to
become loose but stay contained by the rock
around it. Rainfall slowly erodes these lumps
into spindles that can turn freely in their
seclusion. In some spindle holes, the water
found its way out through the cracks, which
eventually formed a series of drainage tunnels
large enough to move through. Over time,
erosion wore away the outer layers of the
spindles, which gained ever more room in
their sockets to the point where an agile man
might crawl all the way around it to disappear
in the drainage tunnel.
The existence of spindle rocks in the hills
of the Mondre Khan territories and the Ku-
Chang plateau is no secret even to the Quan.
They also know that spindle holes are useful
hiding places for refugees and will poke a
spear or sword in the opening to draw them
out. But on their hunts for the Mondre Khan, it
never occurred to them to lay down their
unwieldy weapons and take off their
cumbersome armour to have enough freedom
to crawl around the spindle to look for close
inspection. Hence the existence of drains large
enough to accommodate a man has so far
escaped them.
It is only a matter of time until the Quan
discover this secret, but the Mondre Khan are
not too worried about that. The drainage
tunnels are rarely interconnected and don’t
form an underground network. If one is
discovered, the rest will remain safe until one
by one they have all been found, though it is
unlikely that the Quan will ever find them all.
For all they know, Fate may change the world
again long before that ever happens. Drainage
tunnels always end up in a lower place, but are
long enough to take the Mondre Khan well out
of sight of the Quan patrols. The abundance of
water means that exits are often hidden by
extensive plant growth and the Mondre Khan
know better than to leave obvious traces.
Experienced Mondre Khan can cover long
distances overland by stringing together the
short stretches between spindle holes and
drainage tunnels.
THE COLOURFUL CAVERNS
The Variegated Forest earns part of its
name from the layered multi-collared rock on
which it grows. This landmass is made up of
almost all geological rock types that can be
found throughout Talislanta. The variety of
THE LOST BOOKS OF TALISLANTA
2 - 44
minerals in the soil are taken up by the trees
and affect their colour. Within the Variegated
Forest, little stone huts can be found that give
access to a staircase down into the earth.
These lead to a collection of large caverns
hidden in the bedrock.
The Colourful Caverns are an amazing
sight that never fails to surprise first-time
visitors. This large complex contains caverns
of any single colour of rock as well as
chambers made in rock that consists of
multicoloured layers. All types of rock and
ores that exist throughout Talislanta are
present somewhere in these caverns, including
all the valuable ores and minerals that can be
found in them. These caves would be an
attractive target for adventurers looking for a
quick way to get rich, if not for the fact that
the existence of these caves is known to very
few people besides the Kalixa, a race of small
people that calls these caverns their home.
The Colourful Caverns possess two
clusters of naturally resonant crystals. One is a
collection of crystals of many different types
that reflect sounds from other resonant crystals
all over Talislanta. The other bed contains a
large group that consist exclusively of orange
jacinth crystals. These crystals possess
properties that make them valuable gemstones
for magic resistant items. How this strong
resonance of magical resistance works is
unknown. It doesn’t seem to affect the use of
magic in the Colourful Caverns, but it may
assist the Kalixa Keepers in the performance
of their task.
THE KALIXA
The Kalixa are small in stature, with an
alabaster-like appearance. Hair in various hues
of brown is stuck to their round heads as if it
were sculpted from clay. Their eyes can be in
any bright colour, but always with yellow
pupils that move restlessly, as if afraid to miss
anything. Yet the composure of the Kalixa is
the complete opposite, almost regal. They
never seem to be surprised or swept away by
flaring emotions. The Kalixa wear practical
tunics and shoes of a crude, durable cloth that
looks like canvas and is dyed in bright colours.
Ancestry
In many ways, the Kalixa look like the
Green Men of the Dark Coast, except that
where the Green Men are merged with all
things living and changing, the Kalixa strive
for unchanging stability. Some scholars claim
that the two races form two sides of the same
coin. If so, a link with the Archaen sorcerer
Viridian also might exist for the Kalixa. The
Kalixa themselves don’t seem to be interested
in this matter. In the history of the Kalixa, the
Great Disaster holds a central place as the
event that nearly killed their race. The Kalixa
gave everything they could anywhere in
Talislanta in an attempt to stabilise the rogue
forces of magic that were changing the world.
In the end, only a few families survived in the
Colourful Caverns.
Society
The Kalixa are a gentle race that takes
minute care of their environment, making sure
that all stays as it is. The maintenance of a
static environment is the core task of the
Kalixa race. Through a divination ritual at
birth, a mate for life is chosen for the
newborn. Male children move in with the
family of their chosen mate. In the constant
climate of the Colourful Caverns, there is no
need for the Kalixa to build homes. Each
family chooses a niche in one of the caverns as
their own, and the choice is respected by the
other families. Families have strict duties,
such as growing the fungal cultures the Kalixa
use for food, the making of tools from a type
of stone specifically selected for that purpose,
or teaching the children. The family performs
those duties for the entire population of the
Colourful Caverns. The Keepers are the core
of the Kalixa society and are in charge of all
repairs. Each keeper is surrounded by half a
dozen hand-picked assistants, who are
exempted from their family’s duties. Keepers
train their assistants in a strict master-
student relationship.
THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY
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Customs
The Kalixa see the world as two opposite
forces that must be kept in balance: change
and stasis. They are quite aware of the excess
change that has been going on outside their
home since the Great Disaster and see it as
their task to anchor the world from the never-
changing realm of the Colourful Caverns. The
Keepers can feel the forces in the world
tearing at their homes and are constantly
searching for things that have been changed or
are busy making repairs to places other people
would never notice that something was
different. The Kalixa still aren’t as strong as
they once were, and few Keepers ever leave
the Colourful Caverns to fight the change
beyond the stability of their homes. Once a
day, all Kalixa sit down to meditate on the
state of the world. This ritual, they claim,
anchors the world to its place in
the Omniverse.
Government
The Keeper’s rule is absolute in Kalixa
society, although it is hard to tell. Their life is
governed by strict traditions and rituals. The
Keepers do not allow change to come into
their lives when they can avoid it. As all
Kalixa share in their observations during
meditation, they lack the urge to go against the
established rules. Within the boundaries of
their culture, Kalixa are free to do as they
please. There is no crime among the Kalixa. If
someone gets too excited, he is calmly advised
to spend a full day in meditation by one of the
Keepers. If visitors misbehave, they may wake
up back on the surface without any memory of
how they got there.
Magic and Religion
The Keepers are skilled in a natural form
of thaumaturgy that allows them to detect even
the most tiny of changes that time brings to
everything. They possess powers of repair that
allow them to heal the earth as well as
creatures and man-made things. The Kalixa
Keepers are the only known entities that are
able to affect time, and then only in a very
limited manner. Anything healed or repaired
by a Kalixa is put in a temporary stasis,
making it resistant to further change. A living
creature healed this way will find that the
affected body part is immune to physical harm
for at least a week. The Kalixa believe in a
balance of change and stasis, but see these as
natural phenomena, not supernatural. They
have rituals celebrating both, although rituals
of change haven’t been performed much for
several centuries. When a Kalixa dies, the
Keepers conduct a magical ritual that
disintegrates the body.
The Arts
Kalixa love colours. They are dressed in
colourful clothes and wear chains and
bracelets of polished pebbles of all kinds of
plain rocks and gems that can be found
throughout the Colourful Caverns. Anything
they make, including common utilities, is
created from a material that is specifically
selected for that purpose, regardless of the
value of the material, and is beautifully
decorated. For example, the Kalixa make
quartz spoons, flint knives, and basalt drinking
cups, emerald broom handles, granite tiaras,
and amber buttons for their tunics. To the
outsider, these collected items make little
sense, except that they bring good value on
markets elsewhere.
Language
Kalixa are fluent in High or Low Talislan,
Quan, and the Elder Tongue. They speak a
mixture of these tongues depending on which
is best suited to express their thoughts. They
will try to stick with one language when
talking to outsiders, but old habits die hard and
conversations may be very confusing.
Defences
The Kalixa are a peaceful race, unwilling
to harm others for the change it brings. There
is no military among the Kalixa, but the time-
affecting and thaumaturgical powers of the
Keepers are suited to deal with
most situations.
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Commerce
The Kalixa are not interested in trade.
Their race is self-supporting in their chosen
habitat, and they have no wish to introduce
new things in their society. Likewise, the
Kalixa are not keen on giving away their
items, for the insecurity of what they might be
used for outside the Colourful Caverns. In
their own way, however, the Kalixa are
generous people and will reward anyone who
helps them to further their cause.
World View
Ever since the Great Disaster, the Kalixa
race has been recuperating from their effort to
bring stability into the world again. Keepers
have kept their race within the safe confines of
the Colourful Caverns to isolate them from the
rest of the world until they are strong enough
to take a more prominent place in the world
again. While most Keepers have their hands
full maintaining stasis around their homes, an
increasing number of Keepers travel into the
world to do their work there. To avoid
unwanted attention, travelling Keepers usually
pose as Gnomekin.
CICZ SPRING AND THE
MANDALAN STREAM
Ever since their owners' enslavement by
the Quan, the Sunra dragon barques have been
under tight control. The Quan regulate all
naval activities within their waters and exploit
the Sunra as sailors and shore crew. As have
most races in the Eastern Lands, the Sunra
have organised a passive resistance against the
Quan domination. Almost-forgotten Sunra lore
mentions more rivers that connect to the
Inland sea beyond those on the surface. These
are the Cicz Spring and the Mandalan Stream.
While the dragon barque ruled the eastern
waters, no one bothered to find out where
these waters ran, or if they even existed.
Pushed to find new ways, these names were
remembered, and their locations found.
The Cicz Spring
On the bottom of the Inland Sea, hidden
among forests of sea weed, the Sunra found a
strange mausoleum: a big, square block of
jade with a large hole in the centre. Built from
jade and overgrown with coral, it is difficult to
notice unless someone knows what to look for.
The thing that gives its existence away is a
strong current emerging from the hole.
Swimming into the mausoleum against the
current reveals four graves in the walls of the
circular opening. The graves are marked with
the High Talislan symbols for C, I, C, and Z.
Whoever these people were has been lost in
time. From the graves, the tunnel continues
down into the very bones of Talislanta in a
southwest direction. It takes a skilled swimmer
to continue against the ever increasing current
into the dark depths. The tunnels ends in an
underground spring that is so turbulent it looks
like it’s boiling. The wild currents pull the
swimmer every which way if he lets go of the
metal rungs that have been fastened in the
ceiling of this pressure dome. The unlucky
victim’s chances of survival are small at best.
The rungs lead to another tunnel through
which another stream of water is forced out in
a southern direction. Shooting like an arrow
through the water, the swimmer will
eventually leave through an exit in a rock on
the bottom of the Bay of Cicz. It’s a rough
journey, and occasionally travellers do not
make it, but it allows the Sunra a route for
covert activities away from the prying eyes of
the Quan and their Kang guards.
The Mandalan Stream
The danger of discovery is greater on the
more easily travelled Mandalan Stream. Most
who know if this short, underground stream's
outlet in the sewers of Jacinth believe it
originates from a spring in the Quan Forest.
The truth, however, is that the Mandalan
Stream branches off below ground from a
bend in the Shan River that turns from
northwest to north. Like Cicz spring, this
stream is completely submerged and can only
be travelled by aquatic species. Unlike Cicz
spring, though, the Mandalan Stream is calm
and poses no danger other than the fact that
THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY
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both of its ends lie in plain view for any
passing Quan or Kang to see.
THE RAJAN CONNECTION
Over the years, many entrepreneurs have
undertaken mining expeditions into the Jade
Mountains. Some have conducted successful
operations for several years, but in the end, all
of them became the victims of raids by Chana
witchmen or ‘misunderstandings’ with the
Nagra or Rajan spies. From the mountain city
of Irdan, the Rajan have always been looking
for secret ways into the Quan empire. None
have been found that can be used to quickly
move large companies of troops for a surprise
attack, but following the difficult hollows that
run deep down this mountain range, several
connections have been found and used
successfully for spying activities.
The Rajan Connection is a difficult path to
travel, and the Rajans maintain a well-trained
squad of spies who are expert speleologists
specifically for this strategic resource. It’s a
constant climbing of steep rocks, jumping
narrow chasms, wriggling around stalagmites
and taking short dives to the next section.
Leather bags made watertight with wax or oil
are a speleologist's most prized possession
down there. Not only are they good for
keeping food and spare clothes dry, they also
keep lights dry, can be used to search for air
chambers when underwater and provide some
protection against sharp rocks. Navigation is
not a problem as such, for, if any, there is
usually only one way to go and it’s not going
to be an easy road. A few major obstacles, like
wide chasms or too narrow tunnels, have been
taken care of by means of twin-rope bridges or
cutting out additional moving space. Despite
the wealth for which the Jade Mountains are
known, none of the famous black diamonds or
gold is to be found at this depth. Instead, the
fossilised bones of extinct creatures are
numerous here and suggest that once there was
room for life. These days, the life forms
encountered may in fact be more dangerous.
In addition to spying activities, the High
Council of the Nihilist Cult has explorers on a
constant search for the sealed sanctuary of
Urmaan. This sanctuary supposedly contains
three thousand chests of arcane goods and
(they hope) also some indication of where
Urmaan hid his one hundred and forty volume
Transcripts, filled with ancient lore of black
magic. Ever since the legendary magician's
disappearance, Chasmrock has been a likely
candidate. The black depths of the many
deadly chasms that tear through this mountain
are the ideal hiding place if one could find a
safe way down. Rather than a safe way down,
it is conceivable that the access to the
sanctuary might instead be a safe way up from
the Rajan Connection. If this is true, not only
has it been sealed, but hidden as well, and is
no doubt protected by powerful wards and
forbidden curses.
SECRETS TAKEN TO THE
GRAVE
The Greylands are the ideal battlefield and
have seen repeated violence from the
Forgotten Age onwards. The places are scarce
where digging deep enough wouldn’t reveal
fragments of an old helmet or the tip of an
arrow from one ancient civilisation or another.
What is of more interest to the underground
traveller, however, are the remnants of ancient
trenches, siege tunnels, burial mounds and
forts. Left to their own devices after the battle,
the organic parts of these feats of engineering
decayed. Where sand and dust settled and
became hard enough to carry weight before
the structure collapsed, tunnels were created
and forgotten. If the rumbling feet of land
dragons didn’t cause their collapse, many such
tunnels must still exist in the soil of the
Greylands. None of these territories are
mapped and only a fraction of them are known
even to the Vajra. To persistent adventurers,
these grounds may reveal some of the secrets
that the soldiers of old have taken to their
graves. With luck, it might even be worth the
effort and a couple of pick axes.
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ROOT CANALS
Madness! If you really want to go
underground in the swamps, then you can step
out of this boat and just wait for a while.
Anonymous Gnomekin engineer
Because they are ill-suited for tunnelling,
wetlands, swamps, and jungles remain largely
uncharted by the Gnomekin. Be that as it may,
tunnels do exist in various forms, from hollow
giant trees, fallen over and sunk in the mud, to
waterways roofed over by mangrove air roots.
Most knowledge that has been written down
originates from tales of traders and
adventurers who visited those lands.
DEODAR SUBWAYS
Time is a strange thing in the western
rainforests. The Green Men may not see it that
way; for civilised people, the rhythms of the
jungle are impossible to understand. Where a
flower may bloom for only one night in a year,
a giant deodar can stand for ages. But when its
time comes, such a tree comes down with a
magnificent crash in mere seconds. Then it
takes days, weeks at the very most, until it is
completely grown over again by other jungle
vegetation and disappeared from sight and
forgotten.
Or is it? There is little that can topple a
giant deodar, unless it has been eaten away
completely from the inside and lost the
connection with its root system. A common
tropical storm will then break it like a match.
It is unknown what eats at the core of the
deodars, but it’s a fact that only the marrow is
eaten and the tough, durable bark is left alone.
The remains of the unfortunate tree becomes a
giant hollow tube hidden in the floor of the
rainforests.
 The Green Men leave these subways
alone, but all manner of insects and beasts
make their homes in them. And where there’s
food to be had, there are predators all the way
up the food chain that use them to get from
one place to another. Thus, these giant tubes
have come to form a badly-connected network
of hidden subways through the rainforest.
LOST TREASURES
According to Zandir legend, the eastern
junglelands, now the domain of the Azahu,
were once ruled by the Baratus, a submen race
of pirates. Upon capturing a windship, the
Baratus’ reign of the region really began. They
captured more windships and became the
terror of many Archaen societies until their
sudden and complete disappearance following
the Great Disaster. The Baratus revered two
things, true elementals, which were their gods,
and treasure, especially magic items. The
mountains and cliffs of the eastern junglelands
supposedly hold the lost remains of Baratus
settlements. Suspicious as all pirates are, it is
certain that the Baratus didn’t leave their
treasures unguarded and for all to see when
they were out raiding.
Each Baratus crew had its own port of call
in the jungle, be it in the form of a stone
temple, a hidden lake, or a large cave in a cliff
side, or anywhere they could moor a fair-sized
airship away from prying eyes. Some of these
may be the unknown ruins that legend places
in the Azahu lands. Each crew made sure that
their stash would be locked away safely. With
plentiful pickings in the rest of the continent, it
would be against pirate etiquette to raid each
other’s hideout, but each society has its rotten
eggs, especially if most of the eggs don’t smell
too fresh to start with. But, wealth draws
adventurers like a moth to a flame and the
Baratus figured that they might as well burn
themselves. Each Baratus lair is riddled with
traps and it would not be beyond a genius
captain to trap some of the obvious traps as
well just to be sure. Like the Baratus pirates
themselves, the traps tend to be of the
spectacular kind, like fireballs, ceilings
THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY
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coming down, poisonous gas pouring in, and
the like. Some traps are technically advanced
and suggest the hand of a Yassan
technomancer. Whether the Baratus took them
as part of the crew or as prisoners is unknown.
The Azahu quickly found out that they didn’t
have enough patience to figure out how to
disarm the traps, and they leave the Baratus
hideouts alone. Nowadays, many of these
locales are the favoured residences of Bat
Mantas.
To maintain contact in case something
happened to a crew’s airship, the Baratus
created underground connections between
their hideouts. These tunnels are only slightly
less dangerous than the ones leading to the
vaults. Apparently, trust didn’t come cheaply
among the different crews. Apart from the
many traps, these tunnels are easy enough to
travel. They are dug out large enough for two
grown men to walk easily side by side. At
intersections, symbols indicate where each
tunnel leads, although knowledge of the
Baratus symbology was lost when the race
was cut off from Talislanta.
THE SEA FLOOR TUNNEL
In the ocean south of the Mog swamps lies
the small rocky island of Gao-Din. Now an
independent kingdom, it started its inhabited
existence as a penal colony of the old
Phaedran empire. Far from the mainland and
with no means to escape, security was tough
but by no means watertight. The prisoners
were able to start mining a tunnel secretly,
intending to dig an escape route to the
mainland safe from the aquademons plaguing
the waters. Exactly how they did this, and
where they left the large masses of rock they
must have carried out of the mine is anyone’s
guess these days. The entrance to this tunnel is
as big a secret of the Gao citizenry as the
seven passwords required to gain access to the
city. The obvious rumours put it in the Throne
of Thieves, the royal house. This being the
former warden’s dwelling makes this highly
unlikely, unless the King of Thieves has had
the entrance relocated.
 Tales say that the Gao tunnel goes straight
down a narrow shaft deep into the heart of the
island. It’s a long descent on a ladder of Encounters within
uneven rusty metal rungs in the granite wall. the Root Canals
Apparently, the shaft is narrow enough to feel
cramped, but large enough to make a painful Use this table for encounter ideas or
drop to a certain death when not knowing or roll 3d20 for western encounters
forgetting which rungs are loose. From the (Jhangara, Mog, Taz) or 3d20 + 40 for
bottom of the shaft, a horizontal tunnel just eastern encounters (Dark Coast).
high enough to let a man walk upright runs in
a northern direction. Some stories say that this Roll Encounter
part of the tunnel is plated with gold. Others 3 the Horag
say that it’s a maze with a long line of tiny 4 nest of water raknids
diamonds in the ceiling leading the way out. 5 harnessed durge and mudsledge
There are other tales about it being trapped 6-7 Jhangaran mudminers
like a Kasmiran vault and so it must be as well 8 wandering river kra
filled with treasure too. The only reliable tale 9 mung-berry tree
that came from the Gao mentions that it leads 10-11 Jhangaran marsh-hunters
back up to a rock in the strait between Gao- 12 crystal moth
Din and the mainland, from where the passage 13 black ikshada
of ships through that straight can easily be 14-15 Mogroth
controlled. The secret of this rock is that it 16 quaal
holds a magic that can summon sea dragons. 17 cave bats
Whether the outpost at that tiny island means 18 scavenger slime
that the prisoners never made it as far as the 19 Thrall patrol
mainland or that they had plans to use the 20 polyp-plant
magic of the rock is pure speculation. 21 winged viper
22 sulphur tree
23-24 swarm of Tazian flies
THE UNDERGROUND 25 cache of recently mined amber
HIGHWAY - SOUTH BRANCH 26
27-28
stalking swamp mantis
lost or discarded object
The Underground Highway from Vahana
to Targ is but a crude tunnel compared to the 29 ambushing exomorph
Seventh Road. Roughly hewn deep in the 30 amber wasps
granite bedrock, with air holes letting in the 31 lone Jhangaran outcast
muffy smells and vermin and intrusive plants 32-33 ravenger
of the Tazian jungles, it sees very little traffic. 34-36 dead end
Every year, a Thrall expedition clears this 37 party of Gao treasure hunters
stretch of the Underground Highway of 38 wounded marsh strider
unwanted flora and fauna. The rest of the time, 39-40 makeshift grave
travellers have to take care of these nuisances 41 inquisitive sapient
themselves. The stairway leading up to the 42 slime demon guarding a site
surface at the Thrall town of Targ is guarded 43-44 alatus
at all times. Allegedly, the exit itself opens up 45 sneaky machakka
next to a vicious mangonel lizard’s pen to 46-47 piece of rotting cast-off clothing
demoralise any intruders. 48 aquatic vasp
49-50 aramatus
From Targ, the Underground Highway
enters the Cinnabar Mountains and follows the (continued)
mountain range to the Tazian capital at Tor.

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Most of this tunnel runs fairly high through
the body of the mountains, and are therefore
free from most jungle-loving pests. There
Encounters within
exists, however, a species of exomorph that the Root Canals
has adapted to a life in the mountains and that (continued)
is known to sometimes wander into the tunnels
that run through the Cinnabar Mountains. 51-52 tunnel clogged with tangle of
With its grey-brown coat, it blends in with the 1-5 normal vines
rock perfectly, using the same ambush strategy 6-10 stranglevine
for hunting as its jungleborn cousins do. At 11-15 serpentvine
Tor, the tunnels lead to a well-defended exit in 16-20 morphius plants
the city, although the Thrall strategists 53-55 pool of stagnant water
consider the risks of an invasion from that side 56-57 line of mudwalkers
as negligible. 58 hungry urthrax
59-60 floatfooted centipede colony
From the western Cinnabar Mountains a 61 lurking spider moss plant
branch of the Underground Highway extends 62 wandering neurovore
west to the Axis river. Bordering the swamps 63 running stream of clean water
of Mog, this tunnel runs through soft soil, 64 concealed swamp lurker
saturated with muddy water. Every once in a 65-66 violet creeper
while, a section of wall or ceiling gives away 67 observant tardisite
under the pressure of the water and floods the 68 caravan bugs
tunnel. Depending on the season, the water 69 cluster of resonating crystals
may or may not drain out to the Axis river 70 voltt
quickly, and over time it leaves a thick layer 71-72 disused lair
of sticky mud that may rise up to waist height. 73 Imrian slavers
The Thralls have an agreement with the 74 single black lotus plant
Jhangaran mudminers to dregdge all the mud 75 chasm viper
from this tunnel every seven years in exchange 76 sudden tunnel collapse
for tools and weapons. 77 k'tallah grove
78 sudden deluge of water
79 angry bog devil
ROOT CANALS 80-81 hunting band of Moorg-wan
From the Amber river to the Yellow 82-83 tunnel half-full of sticky mud
Marshes the swamps of Mog are surprisingly 84 pseudomorph
rich with trees, in particular the gnarled 85 carven Baratus symbology
bombo trees. The wild and often dangerous 86-87 colony of Green Men
plant life makes travelling this country all but 88 unoccupied D'Oko dwellings
impossible. The murky bogs and quagmires 89 mated pair of Scythes
are too thickly packed with root stalks, patches 90 ancient stone statue
of bonereed, deadwood and other obstacles to 91 malathrope
wade through, let alone row a canarge or other 92 mantrap plant
small vessel. That’s all good and well for the 93 omnivrax
tree dwelling Mogroth, but it would seriously 94-95 Ahazu berserkers
impede travel for any visiting parties if not for 96 newly summoned plant demon
Thystram’s casual remarks on the floatfooted 97 badly decayed windship wreck
centipede. This small creature’s many feet end 98 bat manta
in tiny air sacks that allow them to move on 99 hidden/trapped treasure cache
the water’s surface. The famous naturalist 100 iron dragonfly
noted that the swamp’s dense obstacle course

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 Root Canals
in the Swamps of Mog

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2 - 52
seriously hindered these insects, yet they are
able to travel great distances quickly by
seeking the shelter of the tangled roots of
certain bombo trees. Little did he suspect the
secret of the root canals.
The giant bombo trees have aerial roots
that stand in big curves away from the trunk.
These roots easily span a distance of five to
ten feet before they dip into the water. Where
the bombo trees grow in high densities, this
results in spectacularly tangled knots of trees
that can entertain a Mogroth for hours, simply
hanging from a tree looking at the strange
patterns. In less densely overgrown areas that
don’t enthral the Mogroth enough to go there
much, roots capture a large space and keep it
free from other botanic intruders. Covered by
moss, algae, broken reeds, and dead bombo
leaves, these roots form the frame over a
strange series of interconnected canals. These
tunnels are large enough to accommodate
small rowing boats and its occupants don’t
even have to duck with every other root to
avoid bumping their head. The overgrown roof
of dead or rotting organic material hides any
travellers from plain view. While it also keeps
out some of the many nasty bugs that inhabit
the region, it unfortunately keeps in the sleep-
inducing scents of the Morphius plant, the
hallucinogenic pollen of the black lotus, and
other botanic dangers. It’s an interesting
question for naturalists why these airborne
toxins don’t affect the floatfooted centipedes,
yet have caused the early death of many a
visiting adventurer.
THE MUDMINES OF KARANSK
Mining mud is a filthy job, but someone’s
got to do it. Most Talislantans are glad it’s the
Jhangarans and not them. The products of that
filthy job though—sapphires, amber and
gold—are much in demand and once out of
Jhangara their muddy past is quickly
forgotten. Karansk, like any Jhangaran
settlement is a cesspool. It is populated by
grey-clad mudminers frequently drunk on
cheap alcohol and unpredictable. When sober,
some individuals can be relied on to take an
adventurer on a return trip through the
THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY
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marshes to the mudmines. The majority of
mudmines are open pit mines. The mud is dug
away in a funnel-shaped pattern and sieved for
bits of amber, valuable stones or gold nuggets.
This goes on until the outer edge becomes too
weak and the whole mine floods with mud and
debris. This often happens when a Jhangaran
is too drunk to care where he digs and quite a
few mudminers’ gold mines suddenly became
their graves.
Among the Jhangarans there are a few
very experienced mudminers who know where
it is possible to dig shafts into the marsh’s
ground instead of open pits. This secret is
much sought after and strongly defended
among the Jhangarans themselves. All of these
mines can be found along the south bank of
the Axis river from Karansk back to the
bifurcation of the river, and from there further
upriver along the east bank until the border
with Taz. Occasionally, this last stretch has
been the conflict between some more
entrepreneurial Mogroth and Jhangaran
mudminers. The fact that this nominally is
Mog territory doesn’t seem to bother the
Jhangarans. The dredging of the swamps by
the Mogroth puts the relative safety of the
mudmines at risk of flooding, which in turn
doesn’t appear to cause much arousal among
the Mogroth. Arguments have been settled by
force as well as by sharing a cask of grog,
which only serves to illustrate the
incomprehensible minds of both races.
The secret to the underground mudmines
seems to lie in a mysterious cavern that exists
below the humid soil of the swamps just
beyond the fork in the Axis river. This cavern
is full of resonating crystals, with a
remarkably large portion of them being
sapphires. Apart from their usual unsettling
projection of sounds from other resonating
crystals all over Talislanta, these crystals also
project a stabilizing force along the east bank
of the river upstream and the south bank
downstream in south-eastern direction. No
other places along the banks of the Axis are
stable enough to allow underground mining.
Jhangaran mudminers who know about shaft
mining learned about this cavern the hard way.
When they first found it, it seemed too good a
treasure mine not to pillage. As they did so,
the majority of mine shafts along both arms of
the river collapsed that same day. These days,
the Jhangarans avoid that cave as if it were the
Horag’s lair.
SHIFTING
SANDS AND
ANCIENT
TALES
From the Seven Kingdoms there are
several well-known, though risky, connections
into the Wilderlands. Emmo Ebono travelled
most of them in the company of the Danelek
guide Vi-Po-Lek. History has many legends of
the ancient cities and the curses that befell
them. These legends and some evidence
existing today allow one to speculate over the
existence of tunnels in the northern
Wilderlands. Desert sand is no good for
digging tunnels. That is, unless you employ
powerful thaumaturges. There must be plenty
of secrets buried beneath the Red Desert. For
the Rajans, whose much more rocky desert
lacks all that, it’s just another excuse to wage
war against the Dracartans.
SUBTERRANEAN SALT
TUNNELS
The widespread craggy hills of the
Barrens are riddled with underground
passageways and caverns of various origin.
The alkaline rock formations don’t rise high
but go very deep instead. This region of the
Underground Highway is the home of the
unlikely company of earth demons, Enim and
Danelek. The Enim and Danelek use the caves
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and tunnels near the surface. Deep down dwell
the earth demons. Caves within hills are
usually interconnected, and deep below
ground many hills have tunnels running
between them. Caves in the Barrens hills are
huge but with relatively small, inconspicuous
entrances. Even in the dim light, the alkaline
rock glitters in a mixture of white, yellow and
blue light from the crystalline sediments of
salt, sulphur and copper. Even a tiny light
source is reflected all through the cave or
tunnel. This makes travelling through these
caves and tunnels easy, if not safe, as less than
friendly creatures get an early warning. In the
tops of some hills are huge caverns that are the
With a Grain of Salt
There is a Danelek tale about a
young explorer from the western lands
who ventured into the caves of the
Barren Hills. He was searching for salt
crystals, hoping to find some outside the
Danelek territories. When he found
nothing in the outer caves, he went
deeper into the hills. After a while he
heard the most awful singing in the
world, which suddenly stopped. He
dimmed his lantern and went on
carefully until he stood in a cave where
a magnificent feast was laid out. A large
table was filled with several pieces of
steaming, juicy meat on the bone, small
bowls with boiled eggs, cold liver
sausage and some spicy pies. The smells
made his mouth water as he looked over
the scene, when suddenly he was lifted
up into the air by the collar of his coat.
The Enim who caught him considered it
his lucky day to catch the ingredients for
another such meal, for that was what the
dinner was made of. Not in a hurry, the
Enim invited his victim to join him and
the explorer was only too glad not to be
killed right away. They passed the time
with drinking and gambling, until the
explorer had lost all his money.
(continued)
preferred lairs of Enim.
Despite their richness in alchemical salts,
few mines have been opened in these hills
because of the Enim threat. A quick
expedition led by an experienced Danelek
guide can recover a wealth of ores by
traversing the heart of the hills from cave to
cave. The Danelek have a good knowledge of
this part of the Underground Highway and
know how to interpret signs of danger.
Shortage of food is not a problem, as these
caves are the mating grounds of rock urchins.
Water, however, is extremely hard to find.
Whatever water is available is bound in
crystalline sediments and must be extracted by
alchemical or magical means.
Near the heart of the Barrens, the caves
become fewer, smaller, darker and further
apart, with less crystalline sediment to reflect
light. Earth demons tunnel deep beneath the
surface of the Barrens. They can tunnel at will
and move through the earth wherever they
please and for whatever purpose motivates
them. This random digging is another risk
factor to careless travellers. These tunnels
were not built for long-term service and can be
quite unstable. Nevertheless adventurers are
attracted to the gemstones left behind by the
earth demons after digestion of the rocks and
minerals. The strong presence of earth demons
and Enim suggests the existence of at least one
portal to the nether planes of the Omniverse
deep below the Barrens. Several tunnels
connect to the Dead River between the
Obsidian Mountains and Kasmir. Some very
deep tunnels are rumoured to pass below the
Dead River straight into the Darklands.
THE URKRA MYSTERY
The Maruk mountain range contains a
remarkable geographical feature. Between its
peaks runs an enormous canyon called Serpent
Pass. It is said that in ancient times, a
gargantuan creature fell down from the skies
onto the tops of the Maruk Mountains. This
was the legendary Urkra, from which all kra
descended. Serpent Pass is the timeworn trail
of the Urkra, by which it made its way down
THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY
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With a Grain of Salt
(continued)
The Enim got angry that his game
was over so quickly. Hoping to postpone
his death, the explorer offered to bet the
secret location of the best wine in all
Talislanta against his life. Unable to
resist the lure of such an enjoyable secret,
the Enim agreed. As a wager, they both
wrote down their best estimate of the
number of crystals on the walls of the
cave on a pebble and put them in a sealed
jar. Then the Enim, who didn’t need
sleep, started counting. After two days,
the Enim came to counting the back wall,
and the explorer took his chance and
made his escape. In his fury, the Enim
conjured a massive blaze of fire around
him and threw it after his victim. In the
scorched cave with its now entirely black
walls, the sealed jar cracked open by the
heat, revealing the explorer’s stone with
a zero on it. The Enim had to let the
explorer go now, and he made his way
out safely to tell this tale to a Danelek
guide. Unfortunately, the Danelek who
heard the tale had no love for wine and
the secret location of the best wine in all
Talislanta got lost in the telling.
from the mountains. When it reached ground
level, it continued to dig and disappeared
forever. Near the western end of the pass
there’s a hole in the ground over a hundred
feet in diameter, its edges smoothened by
erosion. After rainfall, this hole becomes a
churning whirlpool as all the precipitation
from the mountains gathers in Serpent Pass,
becoming a torrent down towards it. These are
arid lands, but when it rains, the effects are
devastating. In dry times, the ground around
the hole shows the spiral marks of the vortex,
and the hole is an easy entrance to the
Underground Highway. After a vertical drop
of about a hundred feet, the hole splits into
four large tunnels that go deeper into the
ground in opposite directions. Each of these
tunnels quickly becomes a labyrinth of large
drains to get rid of the water. Deeper down
some tunnels show the markings of being of
land kra origin, but it is difficult to distinguish
them from natural water drains. It is easy to
get lost in these tunnels. The many side
tunnels connecting each other, the many
curves and slopes of various steepness are
very disorienting. Despite its vastness, this
labyrinth seems to be home to only few land
kra, but those are inevitably far above average
size and usually approach from the depths. No
records exist about how deep these tunnels go,
nor whether a creature like the Urkra might
still exist.
Numenia Lost
The Marukans claim that they descended
from the ancient Numenians. Numenia, the
“city of faith”, was built in the southernmost
peak of the Maruk Mountains in the era of the
Archaen empire. It is said that it was a city of
beautiful ornate religious buildings, dedicated
to the god Ikon. The Numenians worshipped
enchanted objects as holy items invested with
divine power. The most holy among those was
an idol shaped in the image of the god.
Eventually the city was destroyed by
earthquakes and buried when the mountains
surrounding it came crashing down during the
Great Disaster. Now and then temple artefacts
turn up, like prayer wheels, icons, and magical
objects with religious inscriptions. Several
expeditions have tried to find the ancient city,
but none led to its discovery. Ever since the
ancient war with the Torquarans, the grounds
around the city carried deadly poison. The
land kra avoid these rock masses and the
Urkra labyrinth does not extend anywhere
near Numenia’s grave. Any artefacts found in
the area should be treated with extreme care
because of the poisonous taint of the area.
THE BROKEN CHASMS
The Kharakhan Wastes and the
Plaguelands are broken by ragged chasms.
Some are ancient canyons where once rivers
flowed. Others were created when the Great
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2 - 56
Disaster tore apart the earth. Newly formed
underground crevices brought together water
from the Golarin Plains and an unstable lava
stream from the Volcanic Hills, and the wild
magic did the rest. The resulting chemistry ate
through rock and created a series of tunnels
leading from the chasm floors to connect both
realms from which the streams originated.
Travelling these tunnels seems deceptively
easy. They are large enough for a normal man
to walk through, and they don’t wind so much
as to lose orientation. The floors are rough, but
not so much as to require climbing over
boulders and ridges. Most tunnels don’t
exceed ten miles in length before they end up
in another chasm. Each entrance reveals the
wicked red and blue flamed rock created in the
burning creation of the tunnels. The risks lie in
the unstable alchemical composition of the
floors and walls with a touch of residual wild
magic left. A step on such a site is like
walking on thin ice; it can break any moment
and engulf the unlucky victim in an
undesirable substance. Disturbing the
precarious balance can result in anything from
an explosion of red and blue shards of flint
stone to a boot being stuck in instantly
hardened concrete or a piece of the wall
turning into a mirror-smooth patch of amber.
This feature has made these tunnels a place of
pilgrimage for alchemists. For other
adventurers, these are risks to overcome in
search of the catacombs of the ancient
fortress-city of Kharakhan.
The Purple Sea
South of the Kharakhan Wastes, the
magical cocktail was stronger and ate its way
deeper into the ground of the Plaguelands.
There, it melted a layer of rock over an area of
many, many miles, which filled with a toxic
fluid as the magic subsided. Eventually a
purple subterranean sea was created, with
several tunnels leading away from its northern
rocky shore. In the south, many creeks lead up
to fens on the Sursian plains. At least one
black tunnel approaches the ruins of
Torquaran, but comes to a sudden end several
miles short of the former city. Nothing stirs in
the Purple Sea, which is as smooth as a mirror.
It can be crossed like any other sea, but ships
don’t leave a wake and oars don’t cause
ripples. Like the Plaguelands above, it is
believed that any living thing that crosses the
Purple Sea will be changed or transformed in
some unpredictable manner. The sea itself is
toxic, although its effects are inconsistent.
Taking the water of the Purple Sea out of its
underground dome causes it to transform into
a harmless but fragrant purple liquid that
makes a desired ingredient in expensive
perfumes and magical potions.
THE KHARAKHAN CATACOMBS
Situated in the north of the Kharakhan
Wastes lie the ruins of the vast fortress-city of
the Drakken, a giant reptilian race of the early
Archaen age. Although little is left of the
buildings above, the underground catacombs
below the central dome are mostly intact,
despite the ravages of time and the coming of
other civilizations. Built to supply an army
camp, these catacombs were built as a
honeycomb grid. High, square corridors,
roughly hewn out in the bedrock, connect
huge, undecorated halls that served as storage
space, armoury, training halls and defensive
structures to the Drakken. These halls have
suffered their share of pillaging over the
centuries, but these expansive structures are
likely to still contain many ancient treasures.
These catacombs are level and stable; few
have collapsed. This made them easily
accessible for wild animals and other creatures
to make them their home, despite the
persistent rumours of the catacombs being
haunted by the spirits of long-dead Drakken.
Most fearsome among these spirits would be a
giant reptile with glowing nails on its claws
that slowly cause anyone wounded by them to
slowly change into a reptilian form. Whether
the story is true that unscrupulous historians
had someone suffer this fate in order to see if
the unfortunate one could translate the
Drakken glyphs remains unverified. The
Kharakan catacombs are the most northern
terminal of the Underground Highway in
the Wilderlands.
THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY
2 - 57
THE ARCHAEN MARCHWAY
Many scholars studied the legends of the
Dragon Wars in the early Archaen age, yet
many issues remain unresolved or unverified.
Among them is a record on a fragile scroll that
tells about the strategies used in the
preparation for the second Dragon War. It is
the only reference to an underground tunnel
used to march a large army close to Golarin
unseen. According to the scroll, disabling the
Watchstone brought in the element of surprise,
but only if the troops were so close that the
Drakken wouldn’t have time to organise their
defence. No Drakken scouts could see the
troops before it was too late. To this end, the
wizards and engineers of Phandril created a
subterranean marchway, a tunnel running from
Phandril, what is now the Hadjin ruins,
straight north to Golarin, allegedly located
beneath the ruins of Four Nations. The
marchway would be an arched tunnel with a
paved floor, wide enough to accommodate
three platoons marching alongside in regular
formation. It would have to be dug deep
enough to muffle the sounds and vibrations of
so many marching boots, yet not so deep that
it would require an exhausting climb back to
the surface shortly before the attack. It has
been speculated that the Archaen marchway
would probably have had its exit in the
northern slopes of the Maruk mountains. If so,
it probably disappeared when the Great
Disaster levelled many of the peaks in this
mountain range. Although strategists agree
that it would have greatly improved their
chances of success, to build a structure of that
magnitude in such a short period of time
without leaving a trace is beyond anyone’s
skill today and maybe ever. Whether or not it
contributed to the victory over the Drakken,
no trace of the marchway has ever been found.
THE CARANTHEAN VAULTS
All engineers, including the Yassan, will
say that the Red Desert is not a good place for
tunnels. The scarlet sand is too loose to
support tunnels, the porous rock underneath
too weak, and while it might be possible to dig
in the bedrock below that, creating a stable
entrance through the upper layers just isn’t
worth the effort with the frequent sand storms.
Opposing the engineer’s view in this matter, at
A Thaumaturge's Vault
least in theory, are the thaumaturges of
The Archaen tome discovered
Dracarta. The secrets of their art allow them to
below Dracarta relates the story of the
stabilize desert sand, to reinforce rock and to
mage Famorin, a thaumaturge of some
gassify stone and blow it out to create tunnels.
skill, but unable to master the art of
No doubt such efforts have been made for the
warding. Having been the victim of a
defence of the city, but the quantities of
burglar, who could not be found even
quintessence needed to create a substantial
with thaumaturgical forensics, he
network of tunnels is beyond the capacity of
descended from his home in the sky
today’s thaumaturges. The powerful mages of
city of Pompados to the Red Desert and
bygone eras wielded enough power to
started his work. To shield his work
accomplish such enterprises with success and
from prying eyes, he erected a wall of
they did. In the city of Drakarta several vaults
shimmering air, giving any activity the
have been found that were created by
illusion if being a mirage. After
thaumaturgy, and each of these held valuable
clearing a patch of rock from its sandy
treasures. One of the tomes discovered in
cover, he started evaporating a small
these vaults mentions that not all wizards in
tunnel into the rock. From here, the text
the Archaen era trusted that their treasures
has become largely illegible due to
would be safe in the sky cities, with so many
decay, but there is mention of an
skilled mages not being beyond a little spying
invisible bridge of solid air, doors
and pilfering to learn their neighbour’s secrets,
concealed by a curtain of gaseous earth,
even with the harsh punishments should they
a stairway of gold of which one step is
be caught. This led to the creation of secret
liquified and drops the intruder into the
vaults in the ground, in violation of the
abyss below, a room lit by candles of
agreement with the sub-men. A thaumaturge
solid flame that cast confusing
these days would be skilled enough to lead an
shadows, a pool covered with icy flame
expedition to the vaults, should any be
but with a three-dimensional maze
discovered.
through the water below, and of a
crystal ferry to cross a waterfall, but
THE ANCIENT RUINS also of magic gone wrong. There’s a
Ruins of forgotten eras are scattered river to cross with water so hot you can
across the wilderlands of Talislanta. Two forge iron in it, a chamber filled with
separate corridors of the Underground solid air that turns into a thunderstorm
Highway connect these ancient cities. One if transformed back to gas, and one of
goes from the Ruins of Osmar through the the many statues would be the wizard
Plains of Golarin to the ruins of the Four himself after a solidification backfired.
Nations. From there a branch leads through According to the tome, this vault is
the Maruk Mountains, and presumably lead to located near the oasis south of Nadan,
buried Numenia. The Underground Highway should any daring explorers
continues to the Orogovian and Torquaran be interested.
ruins until it reaches the Purple Sea beyond
which the Kharakhan wastes and ruins lie. The
other corridor runs from the ruins of Kasraan were little inclined to build strong
to the Hadjin ruins and continues through the underground connections that would
Topaz Mountains to the Old City of Ashann. contribute little to the splendour of the cities
Although called corridors, these Archaen or the egos of their inhabitants. Except for the
tunnels are barely worth the name. Given the tunnels near Kasraan, the corridors are narrow
pride of the cities of that time, they probably

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and low, and dug with little attention to
making travel comfortable. In many places,
the soil was not stable enough to construct a
natural tunnel and had to be reinforced by
magic. Over time, many such spells lost their
power, creating major obstacles along the
road. From other parts of the Wilderlands,
creatures have found or forced access into
these corridors and taken residence there for
shorter or longer periods of time.
Consequently, it is hard to predict what
dangers may be encountered there besides the
obvious presence of Satada, malathropes,
urthrax, chasm vipers, and crag spiders, nor
what treasures may be found except the
remains of unlucky adventurers that went
there before.
The Ruins of Osmar
From the Dead River, several tunnels
approach the ancient ruins of Osmar. Those
who dare to face the curse of Osmar, that
allegedly is bad enough to drive away all
would-be residents, and the substantial
beastmen menace, face a city that still contains
a myriad of treasures. The most prominent
among those treasures are the blue iron
weapons and suits of armour. These days, blue
iron is only available in the Eastern Lands, by
Vajra who know how to extract it from the
feathers of the ironshrike and the shrieker. The
city had a reputation as the main centre for
artificers and enchanters, who no doubt took
good care to store their valuables in safe
places that would stand the test of time. Blue
iron was such a common sight in Osmar that it
is impossible that a bird’s feathers provided
enough of that precious metal to satisfy the
need of the Osmarans. Indeed, besides the
corridor to the cities in the east, tunnels have
been dug in magically aligned patterns below
the city that may well have been mining
shafts. These mining shafts go straight down
to unfathomable depths and some even claim
they are bottomless. If any blue iron ore is to
be found deep down below the city, it
inevitably requires a good deal of magic to
bring it up into the city. Like the Black Pit of
Narandu, who knows what horrors may lurk
so deep in the earth.
THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY
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Ruins of the Four Nations
The Four Nations were built over the ruins
of the Drakken capital of Golarin. Their rulers
constructed fortified palaces from the
materials they found in the ruins, boasting to
have underground vaults protected against
thieves by magic and supernatural guardians.
Given the military importance of Golarin, it is
likely to have had the same underground
honeycomb construction of tunnels and halls
as the Drakken base at Kharakhan. The
underground vaults would have had to be
constructed within the ancient sublevels of
that vast city. The War of the Four Nations
and the subsequent pillaging by the
necromancer king and Phaedran explorers
destroyed everything. Today, no records exist
that make mention of an entrance to the vaults.
Their existence is openly doubted by some
scholars, but odds are that extremely rare and
valuable treasure still lie buried somewhere
within those catacombs, waiting for someone
smart or lucky enough to discover a way into
the vaults. Even if the true treasure is not
found, many common and uncommon tools
are to be found among the remains of the
ancient settlements. For those with an eye on
the markets in major Talislantan cities, it
might be worth the risk of bumping in a
beastmen enclave in search of lost plaques or
scrolls on which Phaedran notes about
powerful magic spells are written.
Orgovian Ruins
The once rich city-state of the Orgovians
never was a big settlement, and the Orgovians
never dug deeper down than was needed for
their cellars and the royal dungeon. It is in the
latter that the Orgovians discovered the
corridor of the Underground Highway. The
royal dungeon is nothing remarkable in itself,
but before the Great Disaster levelled the city
the Orgovians explored the length and breath
of this corridor, and many paintings of their
travels decorate the walls of the corridor. As
works of art they are worthless, but as a source
of information about the Underground
Highway it might be priceless for all the long-
forgotten secrets the paintings may reveal if
one knows what to look for. The Orgovians
broke completely with their past, and it is
unlikely that they went back to draw up a
catalogue of these paintings for sale, despite
the worth of such a tome to underground
explorers and treasure hunters, not to mention
the scholars at the Geological Repository
in Durne.
Ruins of Torquaran
The corridor to Torquaran ends abruptly
several miles south of the city’s ruins. A short
ramp leads up to the surface, where the
remains of a Torquaran guard post indicate
that they must have seen significant use in the
past. Little of this cursed city still stands and
maybe that’s just as well. Historians have
collected much information about its dark
history. Although most of it had better been
forgotten, their documents still point to a great
many isolated subterranean tombs, prisons,
ritual chambers and vaults beneath the ruins.
There does not seem to exist a proper
subterranean structure beneath the city.
Perhaps this is in line with the apparent
purpose of their other defensive structures, to
keep inhabitants in rather than to keep enemies
out. For lovers of subterranean exploration,
the ruins of Torquaran have little to offer.
The Ruins of Kasraan
Like Osmar, the ruins of Kasraan can be
reached through several tunnels from the Dead
River. A city of merchants, its soil is home to
an enormous collection of catacombs, vaults
and tombs. Like tales of the city above speak,
though maybe in exaggeration, of “streets
paved with gold” and “towers of jade that
reached the sky,” the catacomb roads below
the city allegedly consisted of rows of “silver
domes resting on ruby pillars” and family
vaults were separated from the underground
alleys by “sculpted blue adamant gates laid in
with perfect moonstones.” Much of the
underground city is still intact. In the palatial
quarters of the city, the underground roads
consist of canals lined with narrow pavements.
Now dried up, these canals are littered with
the accumulated junk of ages. Creatures like
the urthrax thrive here like the vermin they
feed on. Plunderers have removed most of the
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valuables from the catacombs with complete
disrespect of the finer laws of engineering, and
several sections have become very unstable as
a result. Many of the vaults that can be
reached still haven’t been breached and as far
as it is possible to tell with the limited
knowledge of the current era, the complicated
mechanisms that require both luck, skill and
the right combination of magical “key” items
should still be functioning. It is equally likely
that the ancient curses are still holding strong
that would allow the mummified rulers in their
rich tombs to rise and destroy anyone invading
their peace in search of treasure.
During the uprising of the submen tribes,
the Kasirans built their iron dragons, large
armoured vehicles that were powered by
magic, to maintain their trade operations with
other cities. In addition to these costly
automatons, they worked intensively on
making the Underground Highway a suitable
alternative to overland travel. Unfortunately
for them, the residents of both Phandril and
Ashann had their minds on the stars instead of
the sand and refused to support this effort. A
magnificent tunnel extends east from Kasraan
for twenty miles, where it falters and returns to
the same narrow, uneven corridor as is found
elsewhere in the Archaen sections of the
Underground Highway.
The Hadjin Ruins
The Archaen city of Phandril looked at the
skies. Builders of sky-scraping residential and
official pillars, airdocks and colossal
mausoleum towers, the first Archaens could
hardly be bothered with the ground, other than
to make sure it was strong enough to support
their amazing structures. To prevent the risk of
weakening the fundament of their buildings,
no underground spaces were created at all in
Phandril. In that same line of reasoning, the
corridor does not reach the city proper, but
enters the Topaz Mountain at the first peak it
encounters west of the Hadjin ruins. From
there, the voyage to the ruins must be
continued on the surface.
The Old City of Ashann
Like Phandril, the inhabitants of the Old
City of Ashann looked at the skies, or rather
the stars. A city of astromancers and diviners,
they were interested in the ground only as a
solid base on which to build their one hundred
feet thick concentric walls. Also like Phandril,
the corridor of the Underground Highway
passes south of the city with exits leading to
where supposedly once a road led to the Old
City. According to legend, the ring-shape of
the city was designed to reflect certain astral
significances and accommodate divining
rituals. There have been scholars in the field of
geomancy who claim the existence of certain
patterns of power lines in the Talislantan soil.
If this is true, then the Old City of Ashann
might have been build on a conjunction of
such power lines. This school of geomancers
unfortunately lacks any interest at all in what
such power lines would imply for the presence
of any treasures or ores that might be in the
ground as a result of this magic. Anyone
willing to overcome the dangerous creatures
and the mysterious wanderers in the Old City
to dig in the extremely hard soil might
find out.
THE EMERALD EYE
The Sea of Glass is one of the strangest
phenomena in Talislantan geology. The
existence of such a body of fused green glass
is a miracle to behold, even without knowing
that there are things going on underneath it.
That knowledge was obtained by a cabal of
Gnomekin crystallomancers after studying
several clusters of naturally resonant crystals
for three decades. Careful triangulation of
known signals and analysis of unknown
sounds led them to believe that there must be a
huge hollow bubble at the bottom of the Sea of
Glass. They dubbed it the Emerald Eye. This
bubble contains a large outgrowth of resonant
crystals, and based on the sounds is
supposedly the realm of an as yet unfamiliar
civilization or is populated with a species of
animals with vocalisations that resemble
humanoid voices. Unfortunately, the sounds
were never clear enough to distinguish the
THE UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY
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words, if they were that. It must be a strange
world down there, a huge cave isolated from
the rest of Talislanta, with two suns and seven
moons that all emit a dim green light filtered
down from above. It is uncertain whether the
Sea of Glass is clear enough to make it
possible to see any movement on its surface.
Anyone or anything living here has been able
to do so without interference from outside ever
since the Forgotten Age. It is hard to imagine
what the original inhabitants of Talislanta
would be like. Discovering such living history
is the ultimate dream of any historian.
However, if an entrance exists in the
surrounding mountains, it has not yet been
found or else has been lost again. On the
whole of the Underground Highway, the
Emerald Eye and the hills surrounding the Sea
of Glass make a perfect centre between the
Old City of Ashann and the Rajan tunnels into
the Jade Mountains. However, these hills are
surprisingly void of any tunnels.
DEADWOOD
No tome about the Underground Highway
can be complete without mention of the
Deadwood. Deadwood is easily recognisable,
as the picture of a wood of trees planted
upside down in the ground is a unique and
disturbing sight. These black roots that reach
to the skies like angry claws can be followed
into the ground by some light digging until
they reveal black-wooden tunnels. These
tunnels form a highway of sorts that is not to
be travelled lightly. In theory, this maze of
tunnels permeates all through the Omniverse
and could thus be used to reach other planes.
Infested with plant demons, encounters are
inevitable when travelling these tunnels.
However, it might well be that the plant
demons are only the lesser evil on the road.
With exits throughout the Omniverse, the
occasional resident that got lost in its local
deadwood might well be found wandering
here. The black-wood tunnels are a twisted
maze themselves, as one would expect a root
system to be. It is never a certain thing where
a tunnel leads, if anywhere, and the risk of
being lost forever is a real threat in this place.
Black-Wood Tunnels Beneath Deadwood

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THE SATADA
Satada are a semi-nomadic race of
reptilian predators found in hot and arid
regions throughout Talislanta. There are large
populations in Sindar in the Seven Kingdoms,
the Wilderlands of Zaran, the Red Desert and
the Kang Empire. They are known to prey on
travellers and to raid isolated settlements and
are not afraid to attack creatures up to man-
size for food. The Satada know their way
around the Underground Highway like no
other race, and use it to travel all across
the continent.
Ancestry
Their life underground and their
aggressive nature make it hard to study the
Satada culture, but given their reptilian nature
and use of the Sauran tongue, it has been
argued they, along with the Saurans and the
Sauruds, are descendants of the Drakken. The
Satada are not very interested in their
racial history.
Society
Satada are known as nomadic hunters and
warriors, although the distinction is hard to
make for outsiders. Their clan-based society is
built along a strict caste system that depends
on age. Up to their transformation, hatchlings
have the position of a fiercely protected
treasure without responsibilities. During
adolescence, Satada belong to the caste of
hunters. It is their responsibility to make sure
that the hatchlings are fed and taken care of
during evacuation. Other than the hatchlings,
members of all castes have to provide their
own food. Adult Satada make the transition
into the warrior caste. Warriors defend the
hatchery cave and the elders, and provide the
tools, weapons and other items needed by the
clan, usually by raiding travelling parties or
small settlements. Satada don’t distinguish
between males and females in the division of
tasks. There is no emotional bonding in long-
term relationships and couples usually only
form for a night. Female warriors lay three to
ten eggs at once, which they leave in the care
of the hunter class. Satada hatch in snakeform,
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pale-white in colour, with a set of tiny but
sharp fangs, and infamous for their insatiable
appetite. Hatchlings are not allowed to leave
the hatchery, which often literally looks like a
huge can of worms. Any food captured or
killed is tossed into the hatchery, where it is
quickly devoured. When reaching
adolescence, hatchlings transform, grow limbs
and change colour to green, brown or dark red.
The Satada tell about a third caste of elders,
former warriors who never visit the surface of
Archaeus again.
Customs
Though primitive, Satada know how to
forge iron into weapons and work leather into
serviceable items like sacks, sheaths and
cloaks. The Satada learned to brew a secret
drug to sedate crag spiders so they don’t attack
creatures caught in their webs. The Satada
then use their capture-bows to retreive the
captives to be fed to their young.
Government
Satada who live long enough to become
elders develop a keen sense for the presence of
land kra, which are the arch enemies of the
Satada. Every once in a while, land kra
actively seek out and attack a Satada hatchery
to supply its diet with essential nutrients that it
can’t find anywhere else. This poses a major
threat to the continued existence of a clan.
When the elders detect a land kra on the hunt,
they order the hatchery to be evacuated.
Hunters collect the hatchlings in large sacks,
not without risk of being seen as food
themselves, and carry them away. The elders
lead them on a long journey far away from the
hunting area of the land kra, sometimes
halfway across the continent. Satada warriors
try to slow down the land kra in case it picks
up the clan’s trail. Like any situation that
involves outsiders, Satada warriors follow the
first one to take initiative to solve it.
Within the Satada community, disputes
are automatically won by the higher caste.
Within a caste, Satada usually solve arguments
by trying to impress and threaten each other. If
it comes to actual violence, the fight is to the
death and the loser is fed to the hatchlings.
Magic and Religion
Satada hate magic and have little affinity
for it themselves. Satada elders believe they
are cursed by a snake goddess, who sends the
land kra after their nests and causes them to
spawn voracious, snakeform offspring.
Nevertheless, the hatchlings have an almost
holy status; the clan will do anything to keep
them well fed and protected. When they are
forced to move, the elders pray to their deity
to lift their curse. Satada elders believe in a
legend about a lost shrine to this god
somewhere in the Sindar-Golarin region. This
may explain the large Satada presence there.
Younger Satada are not interested in religion.
The dead are fed to the hatchlings without
further ceremony.
The Arts
Satada have little appreciation of art. They
prefer crude forms and massive structures and
care not for fine decorations. Warriors collect
small trophies that make them look more
impressive, but they are not interested in the
artistic value of the objects themselves.
Language
Satada share the hissing Sauran tongue
with the Saurans and the Sauruds, indicating a
common Drakken ancestry. The Satada speak
a dialect that is characterised by words ending
in a clacking sound. It only exists in spoken
form, not in writing. Satada names have that
same hiss ending in a hard sound, like
Sheussekk, Ssizhoushantt, Soshfalhokk, and
Sykhtt. There is are no separate male and
female names. Clans put their symbol on
tunnel walls to mark the borders of their
territory. It is not unknown for several Satada
in a clan to have learned another language if
they stayed in one area for a longer period
of time.
Defences
Satada warriors are experienced fighters,
having survived the tough training school of
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the hunter class. Warriors tend to stick
together so they have at least a chance against
opponents like the land kra. Hunters are
usually encountered in small groups, raiding
travellers and isolated settlements for food for
the hatchlings. They frequently leave anything
else behind, even if it is of value. Warriors
collect small trophies to decorate themselves
with, as well as useful tools and weapons.
Both hunters and warriors are skilled in
the use of the capture-bow, a heavy and
unwieldy weapon, resembling an oversized
crossbow. The weapon fires a barbed, iron-
tipped bolt similar to a harpoon; a rotating
spindle wound with a hundred feet of stout
whipcord allows the wielder to reel in the
unfortunate victim. The Satada prefer to tangle
their victims before engaging in hand-to-hand
combat. In a melee, their tail is used both for
balance and as an often underestimated
weapon. Due to their travels, Satada are
known to wield weapons from all over the
continent. They possess an excellent
underground orientation ability and use this to
their advantage in combat.
Commerce
Due to their aggressive nature, Satada
don’t trade with other races. They maintain a
very simplistic view of commerce. What the
Satada need, they take; what they don’t need is
left behind for others to use. Trade between
clans is conducted by the elders and consists
mostly of information regarding the location
of land kra and food sources, or the exchange
of clan members.
World View
Satada have a deep hatred and fear of the
land kra, which like Satada for lunch. Once
being tracked by kra, Satada travel long
distances to get rid of them. The Satada seem
to divide the rest of the world into two
categories—food and enemies—depending on
the caste to which they belong. Effectively,
they are the same thing. Due to their frequent
migration, the Satada come in contact with
many other races, and a clan can possess items
from all over the continent. Abandoned
hatcheries are known to turn up unexpected
treasures occasionally.
Slumbering Ice
The Black Passage grows. When it
was still only a rumour, the Snow Queen

DEEP WHITE of L’Haan became worried, and several

years in a row she sent out Mirin scouts
to investigate this phenomenon. Indeed,
the Black Passage grows, much like the
blood vessels of a baby growing in its
Imagine a tunnel so white that it blinds you mother’s womb. Exactly what is
like the sun in the sky. growing in the Narandu plains is
unknown, but if its beating heart is the
From Tunnels in Talislanta, Black Pit of Narandu, it is to be
a school book for Gnomekin children expected that little good can come from
it. Stories of half-digested corpses found
in storage rooms that were abandoned
Rare bits of information from a great by the ice giants are further cause for a
many reports pieced together suggest that restless sleep.
Narandu is riddled by tunnels of sorts from the
Crystal Mountains in the south to the Far In a joint effort, the Ariane and
Reaches in the north, and from the Black Pit to Mirin have set up a permanent
the edge of the Trackless Wastes. Collectively expedition near the Black Pit to keep
known as the Deep White, how many of these watch over this ill omen. Hidden in a
tunnels are actually connected to form a cavern in a snow-covered hill, mystics
highway is unknown. The presence of night and priests study the magic surrounding
demons, typically found near the Black Pit, the Black Pit and the activity of night
but also as far west as Yrmania and as far demons. Unable to find any consistent
south as the plains of Golarin, suggest results at first, the Ariane experimented
extensive connections throughout Narandu. In with near-stasis observations. This lead
contrast, according to the Mirin, L’Haan is to the discovery that events seem to
nearly void of underground passages, except happen in a very slow but rhythmic
for the Mirin mines in the Hoarfrost patterns. Several times now, they have
Mountains. been able to correctly predict surges of
night demon activity in the Black
Passage, which coincides with the
BLACK AND WHITE simultaneous appearance of the moons
Far in hostile territory and swarming with Zar, Leolis and Phandir in their full
dangers, most notably night demons, the Black moon phase.
Pit of Narandu remains a mystery to most
Talislantans. Few investigators have brought (continued)
back reliable reports to the civilised world. It
is said the Ariane possess the most knowledge
of this phenomenon. It is possible to descend
from walls that seem to bend in impossible
very, very far into the darkness. An ever-
angles. Suggestions that this pit contains a
present steam rising from the depths suggests
portal to Cthonia or the demon realms, or to
a body of water, yet the ever-increasing cold
Gelidane, which might be the plane of
as one goes down makes this highly unlikely.
elemental cold, or maybe some other
Deep down, the very reality of the Black Pit
dimension entirely, feel all too real here. The
seems to waver. Razor sharp edges protrude

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upper levels of the Black Pit are made of rock-
hard jet black ice that refuses to melt in natural
flames or heat. This layer is nonetheless full of
openings all around that look like they are the
result of ice melting. Large cones of black ice
hang from the base of each opening. These
openings are notoriously slippery.
Known as the Dark Passage, a large tunnel
of black ice runs east and west from the Black
Pit. On bright days, a few parts of this tunnel
can be seen on the surface as a black line deep
within the ice fields of Narandu. The darkness
of the tunnel hides whatever moves through it
from sight. Maybe this is why it seems to be a
hot spot for night demons. To the east, the
Dark Passage disappears into the Shadow
Realm. After fifty miles in a westward
direction, the Black Passage branches off in
various smaller tunnels running to various
parts of the Narandu underground, as if they
were dark veins in a dead white body.
Although the blackness disappears after
several miles, the darkness seems to extend
further into the tunnels every year. The Mirin
worry about this (see sidebar). Despite the
disappearance of the dark colour, the entire
tunnel system is still called the Dark Passage
for its frequent presence of night demons as
much as the dark fate that many adventurers
have met in these tunnels. The main passage
continues west and takes on the blue and white
tones of the ice of the Narandu plains after
fifty miles. Eventually, it disappears below the
Crystal Mountains near the origin of the
Dead River.
COLD STORAGE
The Ice Giants are known to dig caverns
and tunnels in glaciers to store valuables and
to mature any food they catch, for ice giants
cannot digest anything that is not deep frozen.
Such caverns are found throughout Narandu.
Most often, they are natural depressions,
carved out in icy hills by violent storms. Still,
a lot of storage sites are dug out for the
occasion. Deeper storage rooms connect to
branches of the Dark Passage (although it’s no
longer dark away from the Black Pit) and
provide exits to the world above. Ice giants are
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2 - 66
Slumbering Ice
(continued)
If this constellation is any indication,
then it will still be centuries before a
proper shape will be recognizable in the
formation of the Black Passage, but it is
likely that disturbing powers will be
manifesting long before that. If the Ice
King is behind such a force, it will
require an alliance of people to defeat
this threat. Maybe the recent increase in
Mirin trade parties throughout Talislanta
is not just the effect of a strong economy
in L’Haan that the Mirin claim it to be.
not good at remembering where they made
their stores and sometimes corpses are
forgotten. Odd treasures can occasionally be
found that way. What it worrisome is the fact
that corpses are not preserved in the cold, but
over a period of decades actually undergo
something that is somewhat similar to a
process of maturation and digestion. This
process happens faster the closer the storage
lies to black sections of the Dark Passage,
backing up the belief that the icy land is
somehow alive. Some tunnels go down
beyond the level of the Dark Passage and all
the way to the soil of Narandu. Down on the
ground, the remains of plants, including edible
varieties and beasts, possibly giant ancestors
of the woolly ogriphants, kirryan and tundra
lopers can be found. Stories that the remains
of primitive settlements were found on these
former plains have not been verified.
THE ICY DUNGEON
The Five Peaks, a fearsome steep
mountain in the Ice Peaks range in Narandu is
also known as the Ice King’s Palace. During
the night, it appears to hover above the ground
as snow billows about its base and to glow
with the last rays of the fading sunlight. The
few expeditions that went out to examine this
phenomenon and survived, returned with
stories of apparently endless caverns and
tunnels throughout the gargantuan blocks of
ice. The side of the cliff is full of large cracks
of light blue shadows growing into a steady
deep blue as the cracks go deeper in to the
mountain. From the upper reaches of the cliffs
ice dragons have been spotted circling the
plains in search of prey but strangely omitting
to attack their usual prey, the ice giants that
inhabit the region.
Many natural crevices run into a dead end
after a while. Others, however, lead to the Icy
Dungeon inside the Ice King’s Palace.
Adverturers' stories told after several mugs of
beer regularly venture into the direction of the
treasures that are hidden there. The threat is
more real than the alleged treasures, and the
rash drinker who claims that the Ice King’s
heart, the largest of the blue diamonds, is
hidden there, is quickly made to shut up so as
not to bring bad luck upon the bar’s patrons.
It is possible to reach the Icy Dungeon
from side tunnels of the Black Passage and
this may actually be slightly less dangerous
than facing the dangers of the flat, white plains
of Narandu. The ever-present threat of night
demons in these tunnels is of course to be
reckoned with, and also a rare frost demon or
lone ice giant is to be expected, as well as
kirryan laying in wait to jump on passing
provlo, and perhaps the nesting cave of a pack
of rime hounds, not to mention erx feeding on
the wild magic that maintains the permafrost
in Narandu. . . . Well, maybe it isn’t much
safer than travelling aboveground after all. But
it does have the advantage of being less likely
to alert the Ice King’s watchtower in the Five
Peaks overlooking the plains of Narandu.
Inside the blue tunnels near the Icy
Dungeon, frost golems do whatever work has
to be done and can easily be followed,
provided the many roaming ice giants can be
avoided. Whatever his true origin, the Ice
King is a powerful warlock and the Icy
Dungeon shows it. Portals into the dungeon
are enchanted with strong wards. One of the
safest routes recorded, albeit one for
adventurers with a strong stomach, is to follow
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the golems bringing the well-frozen and
seasoned carrion into the gruesome food
cellars, where it is roughly shattered into
meal-sized portions and stored on shelves.
Beyond the food cellars lies a maze of twisting
stairways and short corridors that go up and
down without apparent logic or goal. Many
rooms open up from the corridors, showing
mesmerizing ice sculptures and tricks of light,
illusion-covered pitfalls, supercooled
emptiness that freezes any warm-blooded
creature that enters instantly, and other traps.
No expedition so far has discovered a way up
into the palace of the Five Peaks. On the other
hand, it appears to be possible to go down
endlessly. In several corridors well-crafted
illusions were found that cover up the fact
they lead back up to the top of another
staircase going down, and it is uncertain just
how deep these tunnels lead. Terrifying
screams are heard from time to time, but
although torture chambers were seen, none
were found to hold prisoners. The sole
survivor of one party claimed to have seen
what looked like a tomb with a plain
sarcophagus in the centre and row after row of
statues of ice giants on both sides of it.
According to this fellow, there may have been
several thousand statues present there. If this
is true, it raises the question whether these
were actually statues or ice giants waiting to
be animated. In the latter case investigating if
their blue diamond heart is already present at
this stage might turn out to be a very profitable
expedition, if one survives the hazards of
the north.
HIGH AND FAR
Covered by green-white ice rather than
blue-white like the rest of Narandu, the Far
Reaches mountain region makes a different
sight altogether. This mountainous area can be
reached through a series of tunnels through the
thick ice of Narandu. From the most southern
mountains, a long depression in the ground
below the ice runs southwest, like an old river
bed. At the bottom, a small space is free of ice
and can be followed for many miles. The
small diameter of this corridor prevents any
ice giants from entering it. At the Geological
Repository in Durne this corridor has been
marked as the White River. Near the peaks of
these mountains, icebound shipwrecks suggest Encounters in
that these peaks may once have been islands the Deep White
and the area would have been underwater.
Deep beneath the layers of ice that cover the Use this table for encounter ideas or
mountains lie extensive reefs of coral that roll 2d20 to select a random encounter.
survived the effects of time and the pressure of
the ice. In the dim green light, little evidence Roll Encounter
remains of their vibrant colours, but the 2 guardian frost demon
organic structure stands like scaffolding, 3 half-digested corpse
allowing passage between its frozen beams. 4 crystal moth
Open spaces are few and passageways are 5 yaksha
narrow, twisting and filled with the sharp 6 magic-feeding erx
edges and spikes of frozen coral, but most of 7 shivering army of darklings
the mountains in the centre of the Far Reaches 8 Nar Khan tribesmen
can be climbed that way. Where no coral 9 roaming ice giant
grew, the ice lies directly on the mountain, 10 patch of black ice
blocking movement. The coral reefs form a 11 pack of rime hounds
network of awkward openings that can be 12 odd magical portal
crawled and climbed through with difficulty. 13 hungry frostwere
Like all sea bottoms, it is scattered with the 14 forgotten cache of food or loot
remains of ancient civilizations, although 15 terrifying scream from afar
much remains covered up. Old coins, shards of 16 hunting kirryan
weapons and tools, bones, and broken beams 17 remnants of ancient civilizations
of ships can be found simply by searching 18 wandering night demon
long enough. 19 provlo nest
20 outcropping of resonant crystals
Nearer to the top of the mountains, 21 dormant frost golem
numerous caves can be found. The openings 22 dangerous-looking cracks
are small and are often hidden by the coral. It 23 Gnomekin crystallomancers
is quite possible to discover an entrance 24 melting icewater
simply because the coral covering it can’t 25 domain of an ice dragon
support the weight of the explorer standing on 26 Mirin trading party
it. Inside are large caves interconnected by 27 frozen underground lake
natural looking tunnels. Signs of habitation by 28 fiend
two primitive cultures can be found here, 29 lone Ariane seeker
presumably extinct submen races. While cold, 30 ice kra
these caverns lack the typical feel of icy 31 bat mantas
radiation caused by the ice giants. If such cold 32 group of Ariane warders
is felt anyway, beware of the ice dragon that 33 pack of tundra beasts
chose the cave as its lair. The upper caves 34 opening into a dractyl lair
were once occupied by the island dwellers. 35 Mirin adventurers
Where the walls are not covered by a thick 36 riderless snowmane
layer of lichen, drawings of simple fishing 37 abandoned blue diamond mine
boats can be found. Fishing hooks, fish teeth, 38 sizeable Mirin expedition
shards of pottery are typical findings in the ice 39 shadowight on a mission
floor of these caves and are of some value to 40 other
collectors simply because of the rarity of
expeditions venturing this way. The lower

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levels must have been below the water level
and were inhabited by an aquatic submen race.
Shrines and altars can be found where the
waterline must once have been. It appears that
the surface dwellers were either dominated by
the merfolk or looked up to them as higher
beings. The underwater caves don’t look like
permanent homes, but rather like places of
shelter. The aquatic race probably ventured
out into the Midnight Sea a lot of their time.
Most remarkable are the extensive oyster beds
that line many walls and suggest agriculture or
the cultivation of pearls. Breaking open the
oysters can yield a rare green pearl. Almost
non-existent in Talislanta, the value of such
pearls depends entirely on the credibility of
the story of the seller. An echo of the magic
that caused the water to vanish remains as a
scary vision when either of the suns shines
directly into these caves during sunrise or
sunset. Then these caves are filled with the
green shimmerings of light in the water. The
vague and distorted ghosts of what might have
been the merfolk of this region can be seen
resisting in vain a forceful stream that tows
them into the depths of the caves to disappear
where the light becomes too dim to see.
Memories of a sounds like tortured whale song
will send shivers down the spine of even the
hardiest adventurer.
CRYSTAL CORRIDORS
The Crystal Mountains have the reputation
to be next to impassable. Only few natural
passes are known and used by the few traders
that cross these mountains to deal with the
Mirin. Other adventurers risk the dangers of
the rough terrain, tricky glaciers, avalanches
and predators like frostweres and ice dragons
in search of the precious blue diamonds.
Known to few folk, there are other ways to get
from one side of these mountains to the other.
A major tunnel into the Crystal Mountains
opens where the Dead River parts with the
mountains to turn south. This tunnel may once
have been the path of a tributary to the Dead
River. Other openings, large and small, exist
on both sides throughout the entire length of
the mountain range. In the very west, a
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junction exists where the Dark Passage enters
the floor of the Lost Sea.
The Crystal Corridors deserve their name.
Running high and low through the Crystal
Mountains, glittering ore can be seen in many
places, although the large majority is made up
of cheap quartz. These corridors are also
famous with crystallomancers for their many
beds of naturally resonant crystals. From east
to west, these form a permanent radar of
everything that is happening in Talislanta. A
cabal of Gnomekin Crystallomancers has a
permanent station in these corridors, guarded
by an elite platoon of the Protectors Force.
Although easier to travel than crossing the
mountains on the surface, travelling the
Crystal Corridors is nowhere near a leisure
activity. The corridors vary in width and
height from a mere two feet to no more than
ten feet in some places. The floors and walls
are uneven with many large cracks in the
floors and walls due to the slowly decreasing
temperatures as the ice giants move further
south. Slopes can be steep and unforgiving
and may continue for miles from the heart of a
mountain all the way to its top. Between the
bottom and the top of the mountains there are
no exits to the tunnel. In the western part of
the mountain range, the Nar Khan tribes, a
race of submen that has many similarities to
the Mondre Khan of the Eastern Lands,
inhabit caves and may be found wandering or
hunting in the Crystal Corridors. Further east,
ice dragons have their lairs in the Crystal
Mountains, some of which may be connected
to the Crystal Corridors. Frostweres are an
ever present threat here too.
THE RUINS OF FARNIR
The second largest presence of ice giants,
next to the Ice Peaks mountains where the Ice
King is said to hold court, is around the ruins
of Farnir. Exactly what happened is unknown,
but along with the other sky cities, Farnir fell
from the heavens, and shortly afterward it
disappeared in a thick layer of ice. The ice
giants created tunnels running from the
surface down to the city and still make use of
these tunnels occasionally. No doubt other
passages through the ice connect to some of
these tunnels. Several theories exist about the
reason why the ice giants visit the city and
some even claim that Farnir was somehow the
birthplace of their race. It would take a long
and well-prepared expedition into the ruins to
find the truth.
As one descends from the ice tunnels to
the city, Farnir appears in all its ancient
splendour. Tunnels enter the city just within
its adamant walls and show the richness of the
decorations all through the city. Stairs down
from the walls are beautifully crafted from
blue iron filigree, appearing as if they could
not possibly hold the weight of a child, let
alone a grown man, but as strong as a staircase
forged from solid steel. Near one of those
stairs is a diamond fountain filled with
quicksilver that continues to run, despite the
frozen state of the rest of the City of
Alchemists. The ice that encases the ruins is
pure crystalline white, and as long as there is
daylight above it is not hard to see, despite a
two hundred feet thick layer of ice rising over
the city’s towers. Most of the city is filled with
ice, and it takes hard work with a pick axe to
make any progress towards the centre. The
streets are surprisingly clear, and buildings are
closed, as if everyone braced themselves for
the impact when the city fell. The city is full
of marvellous constructions, some of which
hardly bear describing. Masters of alchemy
gave imaginative twists to the artful buildings
made by masters of engineering. Walking a
street may be like walking on water; a curtain
in a doorway may fill the air with the sweet
smell of freshly baked pies; when rang, a bell
shaped as a bird sings a melodious tune.
Unfortunately, a day's work doesn’t make
much progress in the rock-hard ice that fills
the streets and buildings.
At night, the city becomes filled with
various spectral entities that move through the
clear ice as if it were air. The nature of these
spirits is unknown, but contact with living
creatures can cause anything from visions of
an ancient market, or turning the area touched
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blue and immune to cold, to instant death.
Successful expeditions that brought back
marvellous trinkets from Farnir didn’t dare to
stay in the city for more than a few days and
only in the presence of daylight.
THE HOARFROST MINES
To the Mirin, the Hoarfrost mines are the
last line of defence against the ice giants of
Narandu as well as their most important
source of blue diamonds. Riddled with mines,
the Hoarfrost Mountains are the only place in
L’Haan that has an Underground Highway.
The rest of the Mirin lands are utterly void of
tunnels, caves or other subterranean structures.
The mines run deep into the body of the
mountains to a level full of caverns, where a
series of frozen lakes connected by rivers form
the basis of the Mirin mining operations. From
here, tunnels are dug where veins of costly
ores are expected. Rubble is removed with ice
skiffs to caverns that serve no purpose to the
Mirin. Ores and rough gemstones are collected
at a few central locations before being brought
up to the surface. In addition to the mines, the
Mirin operate a tunnel pilot service on the
underground ice rivers for traders who wish to
avoid the risk of going over the mountains.
The Mirin charge a hefty fee for this service,
but many see it as a better price to pay for
getting to the other side than the chance of
having to pay with their life.
Where the Hoarfrost Mountains separate
the Sinking Land from the Shadow Realm, the
Mirin know there exists a long series of
caverns, lakes and canals that hold evidence of
some past civilisation. What little knowledge
the Mirin have of this place indicates that
these caves have been the residence of one or
more tribes of submen. As they see it, they
were caught between a rock and a hard place,
with the Shadow Wizards and the Snipes, and
most likely the Great Disaster did the rest.
These caves are now home to a small army of
fiends, bat mantas and shadowights that
escaped the control of the shadow wizards of
the Iron Citadel in the Shadow Realm.
 Ice-Locked
Ruins of Farnir

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HIDING IN THE DARK
The Obsidian Mountains and the
Darklands are riddled with more tunnels and
caves than there are holes in Cymrillian
cheese. The mixed rock of the Darklands
suffered a lot from the pollution by the Ur
Clans and the forced mining expeditions the
Ur demanded from the darklings. As the softer
stone was washed or dug away, a framework
of near indestructible rock remained. In these
tunnels the darkling tribes make their homes
for as long as the Ur let them. Many sites are
inaccessible due to the toxic chemicals used
by the Ur to drive out the darklings. A
Darkling legend is still being told about their
Lost Home somewhere in the depths beneath
either the Obsidian Mountains or the
Darklands. Reluctant to endure the abuse by
the Ur Clans and equally reluctant to leave
their homelands and possibly suffer another
defeat by the Gnomekin or other race whose
terrain they would have to invade, the
darklings are in a constant search for their
Lost Home. When approached with care, they
have even been known to provide services or
goods to adventurers who offer to help them in
their search. Of course, it is better to make
sure beforehand that the darklings—with their
tongues that were made for lying—will keep
their part of the bargain. A much-rendered
service by the darklings is to put an adventurer
back on the right track out of the Darklands, as
it is all too easy to lose your way in this rocky
sponge. From the Darklands, passages connect
to Durne and the Wilderlands. Those
approaching these lands usually experience an
increased number of encounters with Satada.
After coming from the Darklands, some
adventurers have described this as a good
thing. The upper reaches of the tunnels in the
Obsidian Mountains are the domain of the
Stryx and a good number of yaksha and
provide little or no benefits to the
underground traveller.

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 CHAPTER THREE

Going Down
tunnels of the Sunra or their new cousins, the
ADVENTURING Fan-Ra-San. Finally, the ‘real’ Underground
Highway in the Seven Kingdoms offers many

UNDERGROUND
possibilities, from caravan guarding to
diplomatic missions, Satada hunting, and epic
adventures.
Like the surface of Talislanta, the
Likewise, adventures can focus on many
Underground Highway contains many
aspects of the Underground Highway. How do
different settings and many ideas to use in
the players find out where to go? Can they
adventures. There is something for every style
survive on rations of fungus and moss that the
of play within the common theme of the
Kalixa showed them? Do they see those giant
Underground Highway. As the Underground
rough diamonds that will bring a small fortune
Highway spans all of Talislanta, it can be
on the market of Kasmir among the other
fitted in with most campaigns, for GMs who
crystals? Are you certain you brought enough
like to do something different for a change.
lantern oil? And how, in Terra’s name, do you
Many different approaches exist for fight a Satada warrior when the walls and the
running underground adventures. The classic ceiling don’t allow you to swing your sword
dungeon crawl is of course among them like you’re used to? The Underground
anywhere treasures are hidden. The Baratus Highway poses many new practical difficulties
hideouts or the catacombs of ancient Kasraan for GM and players to explore. Enjoy these
are ideal locations to do some dungeon challenges.
bashing. Spy’s Fate and the Rajan connection
In this and following chapters you will
are good places for stealth missions into
find ideas for adventures, new character
enemy terrain. The Wilderlands contain many
archetypes, skills, magic, equipment and
links with historical events in Talislanta and
creatures to use in your games. [Editor's note:
will appeal to spell casters in search of ancient
Most of the last three chapters are presented
spells or powerful magic items. Fans of water
here as incomplete outlines.]
adventures can chose their pick with the secret

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ADVENTURE
SEEDS
Below are several ready-made story lines
for adventures. They are not fully detailed but
give you a background story and several ways
to develop the adventure. These seeds leave
room for the GM to run the adventure in a way
that fits his or her style and player group.
DURNE AND THE DARKLANDS
A Gnomekin scout returns with a report
that the Ur are pressing the Darklings again to
launch a massive evacuation into Durne. With
a new surge of subterranoids coming from the
depths, the King and Queen of Durne wish to
hire the aid of a group adventurers to confirm
these observations and to delay the evacuation
as long as possible. Coming from Cymril by
the Seventh Road, the adventurers get a
chance to get used to the peculiarities of
underground travel and combat with Satada
hunters in search of fresh meat. Getting an
audience will introduce them to the Gnomekin
city of Durne. The King and Queen will grant
the adventurers the use of the slideway
system. Let’s hope there are not giants among
them.
Near the Darklands, the adventurers will
meet the first darklings who have fled their
homes but don’t know any details. Pressing
on, the adventurers will have to enter the
darkling realm, where they have to talk their
way through the pathologically lying darklings
to find out that the Ur Clans have struck a
bargain with an unknown entity to move
further south in exchange for their toxic
wastes. Can the adventurers aid the darklings
to fight the Ur, or help them find their Lost
Home? Or will they travel the Dead River
around Ur to the north to find out more about
the deal the Ur struck with the ice giants who
want to move their invasion to the south? Can
they forge an alliance between the stryx and
the darklings and with aid of the Gnomekin
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Protectors Force strike back at the Ur Clans,
return the situation to the way it was, and let
the Ur Clans deal with a disgruntled ice king?
FAN-RA-SAN TEARS
The adventurers meet with a Fan-Ra-San
elder in disguise, who tells about ancient
magic at the Crying Eyes. As he begins to give
instructions on how to get there, his eyes go
wide and he dies. How are they going to
explain this and still get help to reach the
Crying Eyes?
FULL DEMONIC CIRCLE
A Rahastran cartomancer predicts the
return of an evil power at Zahur’s shrine
below the Fire-Pits of Malnangar. Worried
about this, several cabals of powerful wizards
gather to find a solution. The adventurers are
approached by an unknown wizard who
claims to know the ritual that can destroy the
shrine before it’s too late, if only they take
him there. Can the adventurers find a way to
reach the Island of Fate? Is this wizard who he
says he is? Or is he secretly planning to
conduct a ritual that will return Zahur or Drax
to this world? And if so, will the plot be
discovered in time? If not, Talislanta may
soon be another world altogether.
MUDDY BUSINESS
The tunnel to Karansk has been flooded
with mud again. The Jhangaran mudminers are
cleaning it out, but someone is sabotaging
their work. Who? Why?
THAUMATREASUREHUNT
A Dracartan thaumaturge opened a cavern
created by ancient thaumaturgical magic and
needs a party of adventurers to investigate.
FACING THE DARK
Demons are entering the Badlands in
increasing numbers. The adventurers must
find the tunnel that leads from the Black Pit of
Narandu to the Sardonyx Mountains and cause
it to collapse.
 CHAPTER FOUR

Rockbottom Lore
MAGIC
UNDERGROUND [Editor's note: This heading was a
placeholder for subterranean-related magic
PATHS orders and spells.]

EQUIPMENT PATHS
[Editor's note: This heading was a
placeholder for subterranean-related
Canarge character paths for 5th Edition Talislanta.]
A combination of canoe and barge. This
boat has a small section in the back that seats
one person, who can proper the vehicle with
oars or a pole. The front part is broadened to
serve as a cargo area.

Speleological Gear
Not unlike mountaineering gear, this
includes rope, a small pick axe, watertight
bags, survival rations, a warm blanket, rough
leather gloves, metal spikes and a hammer.

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SKILLS

Speleology
This skill covers all the tricks needed to
move through difficult tunnels. It includes
knowledge of what items to bring along, basic
rules of thumb (e.g. keep a minimum of three
steady hand- and footholds at all times,
regularly check your rope for cuts and wear
that may decrease its strength). It also allows
one to construct simple rope bridges and dig
out footholds with a pick axe.

Attribute modifier: DEX

Rafting
The ability to construct simple vessels out
of basic things that will remain afloat in water
and how to ride it in a wild water river.

Attribute modifier: DEX

Geology
Knowledge of geological layers,
recognition of different types of stone,
including ores, and their properties. It also
covers knowledge of seismic activity, the way
geysers work, and when lava has cooled down
to temperatures at which is strong enough to
support an adult man walking on it.

Attribute modifier: INT

Orientation - Subterranean
This ability allows a player to find his way
around in the unfamiliar spaces of the
Underground Highway. With this skill one is
able to determine depth underground by
estimating the oxygen level of the air, predict
whether a tunnel will go up or down further
on, and determine which way the suns set even
though he can’t see them.

Attribute modifier: PER

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 CHAPTER FIVE
Secrets Buried
Deep
UNDERGROUND
LORE
This section contains information about
the things that make travelling and
adventuring underground different from the
same activities on the surface of Talislanta, as
well as tips for players to prepare themselves
for a journey on the Underground Highway.
GEOLOGY
While you may not see far ahead, the land
you’re travelling through can tell you a lot
about its history, dangers, and resources.
[Editor's note: This section would have
provided details on geology for use by players
and gamemasters alike.]
ORIENTATION
Know where you’re going. Even with a
map, it’s hard to say which way is north. Just
like you can tell directions from which side of
a tree is covered with moss if you know the
main direction of the wind, so can the
subterranean races tell directions from
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geological features, location and type of
fungal growth, echoes, and of course magic.
WEIGHT
There are no shops below ground (with
the possible exception of certain stretches of
the Underground Highway beneath Durne), so
everything you want to have you must bring
along yourself. Remember that many stretches
of the Underground Highway are unfit for
beasts of burden. Watch your encumbrance.
SURVIVING
Know how to find food and water that is
safe to consume. Bring warm blankets and
pack them in a watertight bag. Moving
through water will get you wet, and there’s no
sun to warm you but plenty of draughts to chill
you to the bone. Fires are not an option
wherever limited oxygen and smoke inhalation
are risks; toxic fumes and oxygen depletion
may occur. Know how to cross deep crevices
and get to high-up tunnel entrances safely,
where the rock is strong enough to attach a
hook. Be aware of risks like cave-ins, floods,
unstable ground, avalanches, waterfalls, and
steep downward slopes coming to a dead end.
MODES OF TRAVEL
Main roads that run beneath the surface
may be traversed by wagon or steed, but most
cannot. Some underground lakes and rivers
can be travelled by boat, shallow streams by
canarge. Sometimes services are provided.
Rapids are traversed by raft. Use air bubbles
for travel underwater. Aqus can be trained as
aquatic mounts.
PREPARATION
Buy maps, talk to guides, find trustworthy
companions, buy equipment, stock food and
clean water.
NATURAL CRYSTAL
RESONANCE
Some rare crystals are magically sensitive
to vibrations and resonate on an unknown
magical frequency. This magical resonance is
so powerful that it affects other such crystals
throughout the continent. These crystals emit
sounds picked up by crystals in remote
locations. Crystallomancers have not yet been
able to grow crystals with such a powerful
ability. Apparently, the crystal’s ability to
resonate is integrated with the bedrock of
Talislanta, because cutting a crystal loose from
the surrounding bed destroys its resonance.
BESTIARY
AQUS
An aquatic hybrid of the equs and some
fish. Able to quickly stretch and retract a
strong membrane between its front legs and
between its hind legs, its strokes can propel
the animal with considerable speed through
the water. Aqus are the favoured mounts of the
Fan-Ra-San Water Guard.
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Subterranean Fauna and
Flora Found in Other Sources
While nearly any creature might be
found below ground for one reason or
another, below are references to a select
few that are native to, lair in, or may
frequent underground areas, along with
the page number in the source.
Aramatus (Tal4 249, TC 5, TM 10)
Bane (NG 12, Tal3 259, Tal4 169, TM
17)
Bat Manta (NG 13, TC 103)
Black Mushroom (Tal3 281)
Bog Devil (TC 8, TM 24)
Cave Bat (NG 16, Tal3 261, Tal4 290,
TM 28)
Chasm Viper (Tal3 289, Tal4 133, TM
29)
Crag Spider (NG 17, Tal3 261, Tal4
185, TM 31)
Darkling (NG 18)
Deadman (NG 110, Tal3 282)
Deadwood (Tal4 160, TC 11, TM 35)
Demon, Earth (NG 21, Tal4 359, TC
130, TM 41)
Demon, Lava (TM 42)
Demon, Night (NG 23, TC 133)
Demon, Pyro- (NG 24, Tal4 213, TC
135, TM 46)
Demon, Rock (TM 46)
Demon, Sand (NG 25, Tal4 272, TC
137, TM 46)
Devil, Enim (Tal4 337, TM 55)
Disembodied Spirit (Tal4 281, TC 106,
TM 59)
Drac (Tal3 290, TM 60)
Dragon, Crested (NG 32, TM 63)
Elemental, Minor (Tal3 275, Tal4 311,
TC 95, TM 72)
Enim (NG 37)
Erx (TC 107)
Ferran (NG 41, Tal4 355, TM 77)
Fiend (TC 104)
(continued)
EARTHWISPS
Subterranean companions of the muses of Subterranean Fauna
Brown Astar.
Found in Other Sources
(continued)
FLOAT-FOOTED CENTIPEDES
Aquatic cousin of the caravan bug, found Gellid (TM 82)
in swamps. Geophage (TC 28, TM 83)
Ghast (Tal4 159, TC 114, TM 84)
PROVLO Gnomekin (NG 43, Tal4 123, TM 85)
Gnorl (Tal4 166, TM 85)
The tunnels through the thick layer of ice
Ice Giant (NG 46, Tal3 263, Tal4 297,
covering Narandu between the ruins of Farnir
TM 95)
and Traitor’s Bay are home to a penguin-like
Ikshada (NG 47, Tal4 305, TC 33, TM
semi-intelligent species, called the Provlo.
95)
Their main mode of movement is a short run,
Kaliya (NG 33, TM 100)
followed by a fast slide on their smooth round
Khadun's Sage (TM 103)
bellies, similar to a bobsled. Unaware
Kra (NG 51, Tal3 263, TC 36, TM 105)
travellers can have nasty accidents when
Kra, Desert (Dj 30)
surprised by these living torpedoes. Provlo
Kra, Land (Tal4 129, TC 37, TM 105)
live in pairs and communicate with other
Land Crab (TM 107)
Provlo pairs by building their nests in
Manrak (TC 46, TM 114)
resonating ice crystals.
Necrophage (NG 63, Tal3 273, Tal4
159, TC 116, TM 127)
ROCKTAIL Octomorph (TC 53, TM 132)
A slothlike creature with a leathery skin Orange Fungus (Tal3 284)
that resembles rock. It clings to the ceiling and Pseudomorph (TC 57, TM 143)
can extend its hide like a cloak, concealing its Rajan Scorpion (Tal3 277, Tal4 291,
body. Its long, muscular tail resembles a TM 146)
stalactite and uses it to knock out unaware Raknid (NG 70, Tal3 266, Tal4 214, TC
passers-by. Then it drops to the ground to eat. 58, TM 148)
Ravenger (Tal3 266, Tal4 281, TM 150)
Rictus (TM 153)
TEARFISH Rock Urchin (Tal3 293, Tal4 359, TM
Beautiful and innocent looking fish that 154)
inhabits the area downstream from the Dead Root Grub (Tal3 278, Tal4 141, TM
Lagoon in large numbers. For all their serenity 154)
when well-fed, these fish become monsters Satada (Tal3 267, Tal4 132, TC 65, TM
that tear any living being to pieces in minutes 157)
with their needle teeth when hungry. Scarlet Sporozoid (NG 105, Tal3 280,
Tal4 125, TM 160)
Scavenger Slime (Tal3 267, Tal4 304,
TC 66, TM 160)
Shadowcat (TC 117)
Shadowight (NG 76, Tal3 274, Tal4
301, TM 165)

(continued)

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 Subterranean Fauna
Found in Other Sources
(continued)

Sivian (TM 170)

Skalanx (Tal4 181, TC 71, TM 170)
Skank (Tal3 293, TM 171)
Slicus (TM 171)
Snipe (NG 83, Tal4 302, TC 73, TM
173)
Stenchroot (NG 111, Tal3 286)
Subterranoid (Tal4 125, TC 76, TM
177)
Tszarlak (TM 185)
Urthrax (Tal4 315, TC 82, TM 188)
Vajra (Tal4 206, TM 189)
Weirdling (NG 93, Tal4 168, TC 88,
TM 196)
Werebeast (NG 94, Tal3 270, Tal4 169,
TM 197)
Yaksha (NG 99, Tal4 175, TC 90, TM
200)
Yitek (Tal4 275, TM 202)

Key to abbreviations:
Dj - People and Places: Djaffa (4th
edition)
NG - A Naturalist's Guide to Talislanta
(1st edition)
Tal3 - Talislanta Guidebook (3rd
edition)
Tal4 - Talislanta Fantasy Roleplaying
(4th Edition)
TC - Thystram's Collectanea (3rd
edition)
TM - Talislanta Menagerie (4th edition
/ d20)

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